In addition to excerpts previously distributed from UN meetings, reports and resolutions, please find below additional references to the ICC and its situations publicly available from 1 July - 31 August 2007. These include excerpts from the 28 August Security Council open debate on the role of the Security Council in conflict prevention and resolution in Africa:
(1) Report of the Secretary-General on Children and Armed Conflict in D.R. Congo, S/2007/391, 28 June 2007, http://www.un.org/Docs/journal/asp/ws.asp?m=s/2007/391
(2) U.N. News Service, International Criminal Court already changing behavior, says Prosecutor, 2 July 2007, http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=23120&Cr=criminal&Cr1=court
(3) Report of the Secretary-General on Children and Armed Conflict in Chad, S/2007/400, 3 July 2007, http://www.un.org/Docs/journal/asp/ws.asp?m=s/2007/400
(4) U.N. Press Release, Security Council Press Statement on the Central African Republic, 3 July 2007, http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2007/sc9069.doc.htm
(5) U.N. Office at Geneva, High Commissioner for Human Rights Concerned at Kilwa Military Trial in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, 4 July 2007,
http://www.unog.ch/80256EDD006B9C2E/(httpNewsByYear_en)/3401F3EEAF548941C125730E004ABA11?OpenDocument
(6) U.N. News Service, DR Congo: UN's top rights official concerned at acquittals in military trial, 4 July 2007, http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=23139&Cr=democratic&Cr1=congo
(7) U.N. Security Council, Report of the Security Council Mission to Addis Ababa, Khartoum, Accra, Abidjan, and Kinshasa (14 to 21 June 2007), S/2007/421, 11 July 2007, http://www.un.org/Docs/journal/asp/ws.asp?m=s/2007/421
(8) U.N. Human Rights Committee Press Release, Human Rights Committee Considers Report of Sudan, 12 July 2007, http://www.unhchr.ch/huricane/huricane.nsf/NewsRoom?OpenFrameSet
(9) International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, Human Rights Committee 90th session, Summary Record of the 2459th Meeting, Consideration of Reports under Article 40 of the Covenant (continued), Third periodic report of the Sudan (continued), 12 July 2007, http://www.un.org/Docs/journal/asp/ws.asp?m=CCPR/C/SR.2459
(10) U.N. News Service, United Kingdom signs sentencing deal with UN-backed tribunal in Sierra Leone, 13 July 2007, http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=23237&Cr=sierra&Cr1=leone
(11) U.N. News Service, Secretary-General urges greater protection for children in Chad and DRC, 13 July 2007, http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=23240&Cr=children&Cr1=conflict
(12) U.N. Press Release, Daily Press Briefing by the Office of the Spokesperson for the Secretary-General, 17 July 2007, http://www.un.org/News/briefings/docs/2007/db070717.doc.htm
(13) U.N. Press Release, Secretary-General Requests Netherlands to Host Lebanon Special Tribunal, 23 July 2007, http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs//2007/sgsm11099.doc.htm
(14) U.N. Human Rights Committee, Consideration of Reports Submitted by States Parties under Article 40 of the Covenant, Concluding observations of the Human Rights Committee, Sudan, 26 July 2007, http://www.ohchr.org/english/bodies/hrc/docs/AdvanceDocs/CCPR.C.SDN.CO.3.CRP.1.pdf
(15) U.N. Office at Geneva, U.N. rights body urges Sudan to prosecute war crimes, 27 July 2007, http://www.unog.ch/80256EDD006B9C2E/(httpNewsByYear_en)/B67ED46A31093493C12573250040D176?OpenDocument
(16) U.N. Press Release, Daily Press Briefing by the Office of the Spokesperson for the Secretary-General and the Spokesperson for the General Assembly, 27 July 2007, http://www.un.org/News/briefings/docs/2007/db070727.doc
(17) U.N. News Service, Conviction of Government soldiers in DR Congo welcomed by UN mission, 30 July 2007, http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=23369&Cr=democractic&Cr1=congo
(18) U.N. Press Release, UN Human Rights Expert concludes visit to Sudan, 6 August 2007, http://www.ohchr.org/english/press/newsFrameset-2.htm
(19) U.N. Press Release, Northern Ugandans want justice for past atrocities, reveals UN study, 14 August 2007, http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=23505&Cr=uganda&Cr1=
(20) U.N. Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Report: Making Peace Our Own, Victims' Perceptions of Accountability and Transitional Justice in Northern Uganda, 14 August 2007, http://www.ohchr.org/english/docs/northern_Uganda_august2007.pdf
(21) U.N. Office at Geneva, Committee on Elimination of Racial Discrimination Concludes Seventy-First Session, 17 August 2007,
http://www.unog.ch/80256EDD006B9C2E/(httpNewsByYear_en)/BB5D56CF7766C82BC125733A0044E883?OpenDocument
(22) U.N. Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Eighth periodic report of the OHCHR on the human rights situation in Sudan, 20 August 2007,
http://www.ohchr.org/english/press/docs/Deribat_report_20Aug07.pdf
(23) U.N. News Service, Sudan not cooperating on arrests of war crimes suspects, says prosecutor, 28 August 2007,
http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=23625&Cr=sudan&Cr1=icc
(24) U.N. Security Council, Maintenance of international peace and security: Role of the Security Council in conflict prevention and resolution, in particular in Africa, 28 August 2007, http://www.un.org/Depts/dhl/resguide/scact2007.htm
(25) U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon, Press Conference, 28 August 2007,
http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2007/sgsm11133.doc.htm
(26) U.N. Press Release, Daily Press Briefing by the Office of the Spokesperson for the Secretary-General, 31 August 2007, http://www.un.org/News/briefings/docs/2007/db070831.doc.htm
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(1) Report of the Secretary-General on Children and Armed Conflict in D.R. Congo, S/2007/391, 28 June 2007, http://www.un.org/Docs/journal/asp/ws.asp?m=s/2007/391
"Summary [...]
The failure to arrest those who commit grave violations of children's rights and to heed previous Security Council recommendations for the immediate arrest of Commander Laurent Nkunda and to combat impunity for other violators of children's rights is of deep concern. [...]
III. Grave violations of children's rights: incidents and trends [...]
29. Large numbers of children are reportedly being hidden by their commanders in Masisi territory in North Kivu, in particular in Kabati, Kirolirwe and the Tebero region. Throughout the mixage process, children have been hidden by the commanders and prevented from going to mixage sites to avoid their separation by child protection agents. Some of the children interviewed mentioned that orders to hide them came directly from Laurent Nkunda and from Lt. Colonel Ngaruye Baudoin (of the 81st Brigade). Children are given various reasons for being hidden; sometimes they are told that their services are still required, or that they are considered to be private property. In some instances, commanders reportedly cited the capture and trial of Thomas Lubanga by the International Criminal Court as reasons for not taking them to the mixage centres. When children are brought along with the adults to the mixage centres they are often forced to declare an age above 18 years. [...]
40. Despite all of the initiatives undertaken to counter sexual violence and the adoption of two national laws on sexual violence on 20 July 2006, the number of sexual abuses remains extremely high. Sexual violence has occurred virtually unabated, in a climate of impunity and judicial dysfunction. [...]
47. Impunity for the crime of sexual violence is the norm and contributes to the widespread nature of sexual violence. The cases in which the perpetrators are arrested are very few, and fewer still are those in which the perpetrators are actually prosecuted and convicted. In many cases, perpetrators who are arrested often escape in dubious circumstances or because correctional facilities are not adequate. [...]
49. In only a few instances are perpetrators prosecuted and convicted for the crimes committed. [...]
IV. Dialogue and action plans [...]
60. Pursuant to the recommendation contained in my previous report (S/2006/389, para. 62), my Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict, Radhika Coomaraswamy, undertook a field mission to the Democratic Republic of the Congo from 4 to 10 March 2007. The objective of the mission was to ascertain first-hand the progress made in regard to the recommendations of the Security Council emanating from its consideration of the aforementioned report. During her visit, Ms. Coomaraswamy met with governmental and military authorities to convey the Council's concerns with regard to the recruitment of children, sexual violence against girls and impunity. Ms. Coomaraswamy's advocacy messages focused on three main issues: an end to all child recruitment and use; ensuring the immediate release of children and the provision of reintegration support; ensuring that military leaders who recruit children are prosecuted and held accountable; and taking immediate measures to end sexual violence against girls and prosecute those responsible. [...]
V. Follow-up and programmatic responses to violations [...]
67. The scale with which sexual violence continues to be perpetrated across the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo is directly related to the near total impunity with which perpetrators commit their crimes. [...]
70. There are enormous challenges that hinder the prevention of and response to sexual violence:
(a) The weakness of the judicial system in investigating, prosecuting and detaining perpetrators of sexual violence and in allocating compensation to survivors, thereby creating a culture of silence and impunity;"
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(2) U.N. News Service, International Criminal Court already changing behavior, says Prosecutor, 2 July 2007, http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=23120&Cr=criminal&Cr1=court
"The International Criminal Court (ICC) is already moderating the behaviour of countries and raising awareness among local communities about their right to be protected from war crimes, even before its first case has gone to trial, the Court's Prosecutor has said.
The fact that 104 countries have become States parties to the ICC shows that the Court is 'a landmark in international justice,' binding all those countries to its rules, Luis Moreno-Ocampo said in an interview with the United Nations News Centre to mark yesterday's fifth anniversary of the entry into force of the Rome Statute of the ICC.
'States recognize now that there are some limits, and that there can be no more genocide,' he said, adding that his office's simultaneous investigations of cases in Sudan's Darfur region, the Central African Republic (CAR), northern Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) indicated that the perpetrators of the world's worst war crimes and crimes against humanity can be pursued.
Mr. Moreno-Ocampo also noted the impact the Court was having on local communities around the world, such as those in the DRC now debating the use of child soldiers, an all-too-frequent occurrence in that country's recent conflicts. In other countries, such as Colombia, he said the media has begun discussing whether activities there should be brought before the ICC. [...]
Mr. Moreno-Ocampo reiterated his call for Sudan to arrest the two Darfur suspects: Ahmed Muhammad Harun, currently the Minister of State for Humanitarian Affairs, and Janjaweed militia leader Ali Muhammad Ali Abd-Al-Rahman, also known as Ali Kushayb.
'[Mr.] Harun is now supposedly in charge of looking out for all [the displaced people in Darfur]. This is unacceptable. He has to be arrested. Sudan has to do it,' he said, adding that 'while it may take time, maybe a few months or years, the destiny of [Mr.] Harun is in the dock in The Hague.'
Asked about suggestions that his pursuit of indictments and trials of suspects in some of the conflicts his office is investigating, especially in Darfur and northern Uganda, might be hampering wider efforts to bring peace, Mr. Moreno-Ocampo stressed that his role was dictated by his mandate - to investigate the worst of all war crimes.
'Peace negotiations can be long and complicated. But I can't be involved in their aspects [...] The Security Council has noted that lasting peace requires justice and it's my role to help in that. My duty is to end impunity and to contribute to the prevention of future crimes.'
Mr. Moreno-Ocampo, who took up his post in 2003, said his office had faced extra difficulties in carrying out its inquiries because conflicts or low-level violence continued to flare in the countries it has been investigating, making it hard to collect evidence and protect witnesses.
'This has been a major challenge for us,' he said, noting the differences with the UN war crimes tribunals for Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia and with the post-World War II war crimes trials in Nuremberg, Germany. 'They were post-conflict situations and in many cases these are not.'"
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(3) Report of the Secretary-General on Children and Armed Conflict in Chad, S/2007/400, 3 July 2007, http://www.un.org/Docs/journal/asp/ws.asp?m=s/2007/400
"Summary [...]
The report emphasizes the convergence of three distinct yet interrelated dimensions of conflict in Chad: (a) the outbreak of violence in the eastern part of the country between government forces and Chadian armed opposition groups, (b) intercommunal and ethnically based violence in the east, and (c) the Darfur conflict and tensions between Chad and Sudan along their common border, which has led to a proliferation of arms and cross-border banditry. These circumstances have led to a significant increase in grave child rights violations and impunity for crimes against children.
The report acknowledges the significant challenges in addressing child rights violations in Chad and urges the international community to reinforce the capacity of the Government of Chad to respond in a timely and comprehensive manner to grave violations. It urges State and non-State parties to enter into dialogue with the United Nations towards the preparation of action plans to end the recruitment and use of children by armed forces and groups, as well as other grave violations of children's rights. The report also calls on all the parties to the conflict to comply with international humanitarian law and ensure the safety of humanitarian workers and assets, and strongly recommends rigorous investigations and prosecutions of crimes against children to address impunity. [...]
II. Political, military and social developments in Chad
18. The phenomenon of forced recruitment and association of children with armed forces and groups is widespread in the country, especially in the east where a number of Chadian armed opposition groups and militias are active [footnote 2]. According to United Nations sources, an increase in recruitment of children in the Chadian eastern region has been witnessed in 2006 and 2007. For a variety of reasons, including cultural and economic, it remains difficult to get comprehensive information on this violation. The international community is planning to increase its capacity to respond to the release of a projected 7,000 to 10,000 children used for a number of different combat and non-combat roles, such as bodyguards, drivers and military camp workers. United Nations agencies and other child protection workers have documented relatively few girls associated with fighting forces and groups.
[footnote 2] International humanitarian law and human rights law set at 15 the minimum age for recruitment and participation in hostilities. (See Protocol I Additional to the Geneva Convention of 12 August 1949, and relating to the Protection of Victims of International Armed Conflicts (Protocol I), article 77 (2); Protocol II Additional to the Geneva Convention of 12 August 1949, and relating to the Protection of Victims of Non-International Armed Conflicts (Protocol II), article 4 (3) (c); and Convention on the Rights of the Child, article 38 (3)). The Optional protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child, on the involvement of children in armed conflict, adopted by the General Assembly on 25 May 2000, resolution 54/263, annex I, raises the age at which participation in armed conflicts is permitted from 15 to 18 years of age, and establishes a ban on compulsory recruitment below 18 years of age (articles 1 and 2). The Rome
Statute of the International Criminal Court, in its article 8, describes conscripting or enlisting children under the age of 15 years into the national armed forces or using them to participate actively in hostilities as a war crime. The African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child prohibits the recruitment or direct participation in hostilities or internal strife of anyone under the age of 18 years. [...]
III. Grave violations of children's rights [...]
34. Rape and other grave sexual violence and abuse remains [sic] a taboo subject in most regions of Chad. Therefore, it is difficult to obtain comprehensive information on the number of victims and survivors of sexual violence and the proportion of such incidents perpetrated by members of armed forces and groups. There are indications, however, that in many cases perpetrators come from the local community of the survivors. Most of the time, the issues of rape and sexual violence are dealt with at the community level and through local arrangements, such as financial compensation by the family of the perpetrator to that of the survivor, but with little consideration for medical and psychosocial support for the victim. Perpetrators are rarely, if ever, brought to justice for such crimes. The climate of impunity and stigmatization of girls and women who have been raped discourages victims from reporting cases to authorities. [...]
IV. Recommendations [...]
63. I appeal to the Government of Chad to address the prevailing culture of impunity for violations against children's rights by strengthening its child protection capacity and the commitment of law enforcement and judiciary officials; criminalizing the recruitment and use of child soldiers under domestic laws and taking measures accordingly against any individuals responsible for such practices; and rigorously investigating and prosecuting other crimes against children, such as rape, grave sexual violence, unlawful killing and abduction. Furthermore, the Government, with the support of the international community, must consider the establishment of specialized gender- and child-sensitive units in the Chadian police service and gendarmerie, and ensure systematic training in child rights and protection of serving members and all new police, gendarmes and army recruits."
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(4) U.N. Press Release, Security Council Press Statement on the Central African Republic, 3 July 2007, http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2007/sc9069.doc.htm
"The members of the Security Council expressed their concern at the continuing volatility of the security situation in certain parts of the Central African Republic, due in particular to banditry and the activities of armed groups. [...] The members of the Security Council called on the authorities to fight impunity and ensure the full implementation of the international obligations that the Central African Republic has accepted concerning the protection of human rights and international humanitarian law. They expressed serious concern at the human rights situation in the Central African Republic and reports of disproportionate use of force by Government forces, and condemned the violations of human rights and international humanitarian law committed by armed groups and also by some elements of the Central African Armed Forces."
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(5) U.N. Office at Geneva, High Commissioner for Human Rights Concerned at Kilwa Military Trial in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, 4 July 2007, http://www.unog.ch/80256EDD006B9C2E/(httpNewsByYear_en)/3401F3EEAF548941C125730E004ABA11?OpenDocument
"The High Commissioner [Louise Arbour] called on the Congolese Parliament to adopt as a matter of priority the bill implementing the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, which would provide the civilian courts with clear jurisdiction for international crimes. 'During my visit to the DRC in May this year, all authorities assured me of their highest commitment to the fight against impunity. The victims of serious human rights violations demand concrete signs of such commitment, in the form of truth and justice. That is only their right', the High Commissioner concluded."
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(6) U.N. News Service, DR Congo: UN's top rights official concerned at acquittals in military trial, 4 July 2007, http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=23139&Cr=democratic&Cr1=congo
"The High Commissioner called on the Congolese Parliament to adopt as a matter of priority the bill implementing the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC), which would provide the civilian courts with clear jurisdiction for international crimes.
She recalled that during her visit to the country in May, the authorities had provided assurances of their commitment to the fight against impunity. 'The victims of serious human rights violations demand concrete signs of such commitment, in the form of truth and justice,' she declared. 'That is only their right.'"
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(7) U.N. Security Council, Report of the Security Council Mission to Addis Ababa, Khartoum, Accra, Abidjan, and Kinshasa (14 to 21 June 2007), 11 July 2007, http://www.un.org/Docs/journal/asp/ws.asp?m=s/2007/421
"II. Addis Ababa, Khartoum and Accra [...]
Meetings in Khartoum [...]
26. The mission made the following additional points: restraint was needed, the ceasefire should be respected and humanitarian access should be improved; the meeting on 25 June in Paris would focus on funding for AMIS, as well as on the transition from humanitarian assistance to development; the political process must be reinvigorated, with fuller engagement by all parties; progress in disarming the Janjaweed was essential; a status-of-forces agreement similar to the status-of-forces agreement for the United Nations Mission in the Sudan should be applied to Darfur so that the deployment of United Nations personnel in the Sudan would be governed by a common legal regime; and bureaucratic impediments in, for example, Customs, should be minimized. Responding to the various briefs presented by the Government, several members of the mission stated that information provided by non-governmental organizations on the ground suggested different conditions from those described in the briefs. The members of the mission also inquired about the Government position on prosecutions by the International Criminal Court.
27. In the initial briefings and in reply to points made by the mission, the President, the Foreign Minister and other Sudanese officials stated that living conditions in Darfur were better than in many other parts of the Sudan and the activities of non-signatories of the Darfur Peace Agreement were the main source of insecurity and humanitarian suffering; that there were no security problems in the areas where Sudanese Armed Forces or Sudanese Government Police were deployed; that most roads in Darfur were secure and humanitarian access through those roads was unhindered; that the mechanisms for coordinating humanitarian activities were succeeding; and that disarmament of the Janjaweed was progressing. The Government also stated that the Sudan was not a signatory of the Rome Statute that established the International Criminal Court. The President and other Sudanese Government officials expressed their dissatisfaction at the activities of rebel groups that they said had undermined the peace and stability of Darfur, underlined the right of the Government of the Sudan to maintain security in the Sudan, and called on the Security Council to exert pressure on the rebel groups and to recommend to the General Assembly funding of the hybrid operation from the United Nations budget. [...]
C. Regional considerations
40. One member, on behalf of the mission, noted that the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) from northern Uganda represented one of the most significant challenges to peace in Africa and was a priority for the Security Council. The mission urged the expeditious conclusion of the peace talks between the Government of Uganda and LRA, which had restarted on 1 June 2007 in Juba, and hoped they would lead to an effective cessation of hostilities and a comprehensive political solution, including an end to impunity. The mission commended the Governments of Uganda and Southern Sudan for their efforts to find a long-term solution to the LRA challenge and expressed its full confidence in the mediation of the Juba Talks by the Special Envoy of the Secretary-General, Joachim Chissano. Already, the mission noted, 400,000 displaced people had returned to their homes and 400,000 more were on their way home."
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(8) U.N. Human Rights Committee Press Release, Human Rights Committee Considers Report of Sudan, 12 July 2007, http://www.unhchr.ch/huricane/huricane.nsf/NewsRoom?OpenFrameSet
"The Human Rights Committee has considered the third report of Sudan on how that State party is implementing the provisions of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. [...]
Rafael Rivas Posada, Chairperson of the Committee, in preliminary concluding observations, highlighted concerns surrounding the ongoing internal war, which had produced so much suffering and which had produced so many potential violations of human rights. Progress was still needed in Sudan to address issues of impunity, the protection of women and children, and to establish an age for criminal responsibility that corresponded to international standards. [...]
Right of Persons to Self-Determination [...]
In terms of Sudan's cooperation with the International Criminal Court (ICC), it should be recalled that Sudan was neither a member nor a signatory to the ICC. Furthermore, the delegation stressed that the ICC did not respect the non-discrimination article of the Covenant, and the Committee should not venture into such political questions. The Sudanese Government had underscored that the ICC was not a competent authority, that it had no jurisdiction, and thus the ICC could not deal with the Darfur case, even if the Security Council transferred it to the ICC. Similarly, Sudan believed that the demands of the Attorney General of the ICC to accuse certain individuals had no legal basis, and that that procedure went against Sudan's right to use domestic law to deal with the situation, as enshrined in the Covenant. Sudan was committed to exercise its domestic law without any kind of discrimination and would use its traditional penal proceedings in the Darfur case. [...]
Right to Life and Prohibition of Torture [...]
On the allegations that militia in Darfur continued to perpetuate serious violations of the right to life and to physical and moral integrity with total impunity and with the active and/or tacit complicity of the Sudanese authorities, it would be good first to recall the historical context of the emergence of the Darfur conflict. That conflict had had its roots in disputes over local resources like water, and the United Nations Secretary-General had thus named it the first environmental conflict. A wide range of factions and militias had been involved in it, and serious violations had been perpetrated. Investigations by the Sudanese justice authorities of events committed during the height of the Darfur conflict, in 2003 and 2004, had been very complicated but some had been submitted to court. The fact that convicted persons had later appealed did not mean that there was complicity with the Sudanese Government. One had to understand that those cases had taken place in provinces that covered three times the area of France, and where there were no means of communications and very difficult transportation. To gather evidence and get witnesses to court in such conditions was thus an extremely difficult task and one subject to delays. But the Government had never given any impunity to anyone in those cases, the delegation underscored."
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(9) International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, Human Rights Committee 90th session, Summary Record of the 2459th Meeting, Consideration of Reports under Article 40 of the Covenant (continued), Third periodic report of the Sudan (continued), 12 July 2007, http://www.un.org/Docs/journal/asp/ws.asp?m=CCPR/C/SR.2459
"18. She [Ms. WEDGWOOD, U.S.] urged the Government to act responsibly and prevent reprisals in Darfur following the signing of the peace agreements. She asked what was preventing the Special Criminal Court on the Events in Darfur from holding the trials it was set up to hear. The Sudan's duty to investigate the events in Darfur had been further emphasized by Security Council resolution 1593 (2005) referring the situation there to the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC). [...]
21. Ms. CHANET, French Representative on the Committee, said that, in view of the very serious human rights violations committed in Darfur, the Sudan needed not only the will to bring the perpetrators to justice but also the legal and practical capacity to do so. She recalled that the Sudanese Government had dismissed as political the Security Council resolution referring the situation in Darfur to the ICC Prosecutor. Yet the Sudanese authorities themselves had admitted that the country's courts were unable to cope. Apparently, large numbers of individuals had been indicted but she wished to know the exact numbers of those who had been tried and convicted by the Sudanese courts, including the Special Criminal Court on the Events in Darfur. She asked the delegation to comment on the fact that, in a 2006 report by the Secretary-General of the United Nations, the Sudanese courts set up to hear Darfur cases had been described as ineffective. She asked for details of any enactments under which suspects could be tried for genocide, war crimes or crimes against humanity. What procedures did the courts follow and were individuals' rights under the Covenant guaranteed?"
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(10) U.N. News Service, United Kingdom signs sentencing deal with UN-backed tribunal in Sierra Leone, 13 July 2007, http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=23237&Cr=sierra&Cr1=leone
"The United Nations-backed Special Court for Sierra Leone (SCSL) has reached an agreement with the United Kingdom that will mean the notorious former Liberian president Charles Taylor will be imprisoned in the UK if he is convicted on war crimes charges. [...] A year ago the Security Council authorized the staging of Mr. Taylor's trial at The Hague in the Netherlands, citing reasons of security and expediency. Although the trial will be held at the premises of the International Criminal Court (ICC), it will remain under the exclusive jurisdiction of the SCSL."
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(11) U.N. News Service, Secretary-General urges greater protection for children in Chad and DRC, 13 July 2007, http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=23240&Cr=children&Cr1=conflict
"[I]n the DRC, the Secretary-General noted that while progress has been made by the Government, the UN mission (MONUC) and other partners to improve the situation of children affected by armed conflict, major obstacles remain, especially in the Ituri district and the North and South Kivu provinces in the north-east of the vast nation. The report noted that 30 per cent of abducted children in these areas were recruited as soldiers, 13 per cent were raped and 2 per cent used as forced labour. The report called for the arrest of Laurent Nkunda, who it said had used Congolese and Rwandan children as soldiers in North Kivu, as well as the re-arrest of Jean-Pierre Biyoyo, who was sentenced by a tribunal in the city of Bukavu in March last year to five years' imprisonment for the de facto recruitment and use of child soldiers. 'I encourage the Government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and donors to devote greater resources to developing the national judicial and penitentiary systems in an effort to promote accountability for violations of children's rights,' Mr. Ban wrote. He also urged the Rwandan Government, in concert with the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and other child protection partners, to work to immediately end the recruitment of Congolese children from refugee camps in Rwanda, as well as of Rwandan children in the DRC."
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(12) U.N. Press Release, Daily Press Briefing by the Office of the Spokesperson for the Secretary-General, 17 July 2007, http://www.un.org/News/briefings/docs/2007/db070717.doc.htm
"And to flag just two more things for you, this afternoon, Japan is scheduled to deposit an instrument of accession to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court at 4:30. By this act, Japan will become the 105th State to be bound by the Rome Statute. The Japanese accession will enter into force on 1 October 2007. A ceremony will take place in the Signature Room of the Office of Legal Affairs in S-3200."
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(13) U.N. Press Release, Secretary-General Requests Netherlands to Host Lebanon Special Tribunal, 23 July 2007, http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/
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