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    ECOWAS stresses importance of international criminal justice system

    May 25, 2022

    Delegates at ECOWAS meeting on international criminal justice system

     Image: ICC

    THE 15 members of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) have emphasised the need to strengthen the international criminal justice system and the fight against impunity through cooperation between the International Criminal Court (ICC) and the regional body.

    Meeting in Dakar this week, the participants agreed that this would only be achieved through collective efforts to ensure the effective implementation of the principle of complementarity among members of ECOWAS.

    This is clearly aimed at getting ICC member states in ECOWAS to do more to try those found guilty of international criminals, rather than leave prosecution to the ICC, which is a court of last resort when national courts are unwilling or unable to exercise their jurisdiction.

    Opening the conference, President Macky Sall said: “The Court derives its legitimacy, in fact, from the confidence placed in it by the states parties, from the mandate which they have conferred upon it and from the support which they would like to provide to it, for the processing, by it, of any facts subject to its jurisdiction. …

    “The effectiveness or the success of the Court depends on the respect by the latter, just as by the states parties, of the statutory provisions which govern their relations, but also and above all of the will of each of our countries to play their part in the delivery of criminal justice at the national level.

    “All in all, the ICC cannot act without the cooperation of states, which have the monopoly of the police, and without which the identification and appearance of the accused, as well as of victims and witnesses, would be unlikely,” Sall added.

    The President of the Assembly of States Parties (ASP), Silvia Fernández de Gurmendi, said: “We observe a growing interest in justice and the proliferation of a number of mechanisms and initiatives to achieve it.

    “We are thus witnessing the emergence of a global system of justice, in which courts acting at different levels have a role to play, sometimes a central role, sometimes a complementary or supporting role.

    “The ICC has proven that it can play all of these roles effectively,” she added.

    ICC President Judge Piotr Hofmański stressed the principles of fighting impunity “regardless of the nationality of the victims or the perpetrators”.

    He noted: “The ICC’s mandate and purpose remains the same: to fight against impunity for the most serious atrocity crimes.

    “We strive for accountability.

    “We strive to provide justice to victims.

    “And we strive to prevent future crimes.”

    Hofmański continued: “But the ICC cannot do any of this alone.

    “That is why this conference is so important.

    “It is an opportunity to draw best practices and lessons-learned, and to discuss what we can do to enhance the cooperation in our joint quest for justice.”

    ICC Deputy Prosecutor Mame Mandiaye Niang said engaging in “a frank dialogue with Africa is at the heart of Prosecutor [Karim] Khan’s vision”.

    “The Rome Statute is a court of last resort and national courts must have primacy.

    “If sub-regional or regional judicial bodies can play a part, this option should be encouraged.

    “In short, yes to complementarity but yes, above all, to positive complementarity; one where the ICC contributes to building the capacities of national authorities and is in constant communication with them to reduce as much as possible the impunity gap,” Niang added.

    The Vice-Chairperson of the Board of Directors of the Trust Fund for Victims Ibrahim Sorie Yillah said the Fund was “an unprecedented message of the international community’s ambition to redress the harm suffered by victims of armed conflict.

    “Cooperation and complementarity are needed to provide justice for victims”.

    He went on: “The implementation of reparations for crimes within the ICC’s jurisdiction is still new.

    “Africa also needs to take financial engagement for reparation programmes to victims on the continent.

    “Let us together make them a meaningful reality for victims”.

    Senegal was the first country in the world to ratify the Rome Statute, the ICC’s founding treaty, and has also later played a significant role in advancing international criminal justice by hosting the Extraordinary African Chambers in 2017.

    Currently, Senegal is co-facilitator on cooperation in the ASP with France.

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