In this November 16, 2004, letter to U.N. member states, Human Rights Watch urged governments to co-sponsor and vote in favor of a resolution on the International Criminal Court (ICC) in the Sixth Committee of the U.N. General Assembly. In the face of strong support for the resolution by numerous states, the United States backed down on its demand to delete inclusion of the ICC on the agenda of the General Assembly next year. The resolution was adopted by consensus on November 19.
November 16, 2004
To: The Permanent Representatives to the United Nations of U.N. Member States
Your Excellency:
I am writing in regards to the draft resolution on the International Criminal Court (ICC) that is expected to come to a vote in the Sixth Committee of the General Assembly this Friday. This vote provides a key opportunity for U.N. member states – ICC states parties as well as non-states parties – to demonstrate support for the ICC and opposition to U.S. efforts to undermine it.
We strongly urge your government to take three concrete steps: 1) to co-sponsor the resolution; 2) to vote in favor of the resolution; and 3) if not a co-sponsor, to make an intervention at the vote.
As you know, over the past two and a half years, the United States has launched a worldwide campaign to undermine the ICC. Even so, in 2002 and 2003, the Sixth Committee adopted resolutions on the court without a vote, as states were able to reach a consensus on the text. Human Rights Watch understands that this year, however, a consensus could not be reached because the United States insisted on deleting a simple reference to inclusion of the ICC on the agenda of the General Assembly next year.
The United States has now reportedly proposed some “compromise” language to the draft resolution. It would permit the ICC to be included on the General Assembly agenda provided that any cost related to the agenda item is reimbursed in accordance with the Relationship Agreement between the United Nations and the ICC signed on September 13, 2004, and General Assembly Resolution 58/318. Such language is wholly unacceptable. The Relationship Agreement and General Assembly Resolution 58/318 make no provision for the ICC to assume costs of U.N. internal meetings and there is no practice of requiring such reimbursements for similar types of U.N. meetings.
It would be unacceptable for U.N. member states to accede now to the U.S. demand. Given the Relationship Agreement between the ICC and the United Nations, it is illogical and indefensible to prohibit including the ICC on the General Assembly agenda. The Relationship Agreement makes it all the more within the General Assembly’s institutional interest to discuss the ICC.
Human Rights Watch believes this most recent move reflects an emboldened unilateralist attitude in the wake of the U.S. presidential election. The Bush administration’s prior willingness to accept language that it now seeks to delete or weaken makes it essential that U.N. member states draw a line in response to this intensified U.S. assault on the ICC with a showing of strong support for the court.
It is possible that if the United States were to give way to inclusion of the ICC on the General Assembly agenda next year, it would propose other “compromise” language to the draft resolution. We urge you to be alert to such developments.
Once again, Human Rights Watch urges your government to co-sponsor the resolution and vote in favor of it. We also urge your government, if it is not a co-sponsor, to make an intervention at the vote in support of the ICC. We are not advocating in any way that states make provocative or confrontational statements regarding the interests of the United States. Instead, we urge your government to express support for an institution created to end impunity for war crimes, genocide, and crimes against humanity.
With the initiation of two investigations in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda, and the election of a second Deputy Prosecutor, the court has progressed considerably in its work. It is crucial that states affirm the importance of the objectives of the ICC and continue to support its development.
Sincerely,
Richard Dicker
Director, International Justice Program
Cc: Representative to the Sixth (Legal) Committee
