This week there has been a great deal of ICC activity. As we reported earlier, the annual Assembly of States Parties meeting is currently ongoing in New York. At the meeting the ASP formally elected Gamibian Fatou Bensouda as the ICC's next Prosecutor. Her candidacy was widely supported, including by the African Union. On Tuesday the future Prosecutor pledged to increase efforts to enforce justice against perpetrators of sex and gender crimes. On Monday a representative for the Court said it was referring Malawi's non-compliance with the ICC to the United Nations Security Council, after the country refused to arrest President Bashir when he visited in October. What the Security Council will do about the matter remains to be seen. In the wake of the ICC's arrest of former President Gbagbo of the Ivory Coast, protestors have gathered outside the Court demanding his release. This ICC has not issued a statement on the matter. 
Earlier we reported that the Kenya high court issued a ruling ordering the government to arrest Bashir if he returns to Kenya. The ruling prompted an ultimatum from President Bashir, as well as criticism from Kenyan government officials. Former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan has called upon Kenya's government officials to respect the new-found independence of the judiciary and to resist urges to overturn the decision due to political pressures. In other news, last week Vanuata became the 120th state to join the Rome Statute and become state party to the International Criminal Court. The statute will enter into force for the nation on February 1, 2012. Photo Credits: BBC News and Reuters.
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