The ICJ called for the closure of Guantanamo Bay and for anyone suspected of committing criminal offences to be brought to trial without delay before an ordinary criminal court.
The ICJ condemns the United States for pressing states to sign bilateral agreements which would preclude them from transferring US nationals to the International Criminal Court (ICC).
“Claims that Australian soldiers will be subject to charges brought against them by the International Criminal Court are spurious and without foundation,” said Justice John Dowd, President of ICJ’s Australian Section.
Today the ICJ has been awarded the UN Human Rights Prize. This prestigious award is granted by the UN every five years.
Today, the ICJ launched a campaign for the establishment of a permanent International Penal Court to prosecute those responsible for gross violations of human rights and humanitarian law.
While welcoming the creation of the UN ad hoc Tribunal concerning the former Yugoslavia, the ICJ said that this ad hoc approach does not address the global need to bring all perpetrators of gross violations of human rights to justice.
“The massacres in Cambodia, wilful killings in Liberia, disappearances in Latin America, and torture and deportations of Palestinians, cannot go unpunished. Now, more than any other time in the past, the international community is ready to take practical steps towards the creation of a permanent International Penal Court,” said Adama Dieng, the ICJ Secretary General.
In its Position Paper released today, The Establishment of a Permanent International Penal Court, the ICJ addresses the question of why a permanent Court is needed and provides a blueprint for such a Court. The ICJ concludes with concrete recommendations.