UNGA responds to the ICC report

States Parties to the Rome Statute highlighted the importance of complementarity, cooperation, and universality for the ICC’s efficient functioning. They urged States Parties and UN member states to fulfill their obligations under international law (namely the UN Charter) and fully cooperate with the Security Council. (Read: arrest and surrender Omar Al-Bashir!)

Omar Al Bashir

Sudan's Ambassador to the UN brought some fire to the room criticizing states for hiding behind diplomatic phrases. He stated that the ICC poses a threat to the peace and security of societies, especially in Africa, and does not achieve justice. He characterized the upcoming Review Conference* as a tool to settle political accounts in the name of justice. He also criticized Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo, calling him an unprofessional political activist who chases fame and popularity. The delegate called for a stop to the politicization of justice which in his view expresses a new form of legal apartheid where the ICC’s selectivity and double standards in targeting only African leaders encroaches upon the sovereignty of these targeted states.

Egypt also called for the Security Council to refer cases to the ICC without discrimination. (Read: refer the case of Palestine/Israel following the Goldstone Report!)

*The Assembly of States Parties will hold a Review Conference in Kampala, Uganda in May 2010.