01 Nov 2015

State parties to the Roman Statute have been called upon to support the International Criminal Court (ICC) so that it can dispense its functions and duties without any hindrance. 

Officiating at a two-day regional seminar on fostering cooperation with the International Criminal Court in Gaborone recently, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Dr Pelonomi Venson-Moitoi encouraged states to exercise jurisdiction and create a framework which allows the ICC and national legal systems to engage with one another at the judicial level.

In addition she said the participants must ensure that their governments continue to provide the necessary resources to enhance national legal systems, and to facilitate national capacity building and regional capabilities, particularly in the criminal system to guarantee justice to victims. 

Dr Venson-Moitoi said she was pleased to note that African countries constitute the largest single bloc of state parties to the Rome Statute, noting that this was critical in that efforts to end impunity on the continent required the collective resolve by all Africans.

The ICC was created to bring accountability to serious crimes of international concern such as genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity. To this end, by ratifying the Rome Statute, African states signaled their conviction and dedication to cooperate with the ICC to defend the rights of victims and to ensure that the perpetrators were brought to justice.

“Our people look to our governments to remain steadfast in their quest to support justice for victims of crimes against humanity, including by reaffirming their commitment to cooperate with the ICC,” she said.

In addition, Dr Venson-Moitoi said members should accept that while they may have challenges with resources, it remains their responsibility to establish the necessary local institutions to serve the needs of their people.

Meanwhile, Dr Venson-Moitoi said while ICC places an important role in prosecuting perpetrators of crimes against humanity, it was the primary duty of states to prosecute crimes as defined in the Rome Statute. However, in situation where it was unable or lacks the capacity to do so, the ICC assists in making sure that justice was done through the national judicial systems or cases were referred to it for prosecution in accordance with the principles of complementarity.

Dr Venson-Moitoi stressed that cooperation and complementarity were critical because the success of the ICC was directly related to the willingness of state parties to establish local institutions and work with the ICC when called upon to do so. The minister said Botswana stands ready to fulfill her obligations in this regard, and would do so as and when required by the court. She said Botswana has demonstrated her readiness to cooperate with other state parties, and the court on matters pertaining to the implementation of the Rome Statute.

Meanwhile, the seminar attracted the participation of leaders from government, the private sector, development partners, international institutions and civil society. The objective of the seminar was to stimulate discussions and improve mutual understanding on cooperation between the ICC and state parties to the Rome Statute on matters of national capacity building, witness protection and international cooperation. Ends