Spotlight: Partnering with the ICC to promote international criminal justice

The ISS and Office of the President of the Assembly of States Parties to the Rome Statute collaborated to promote domestic justice for international crimes.

Published on 27 November 2014 in Impact

The Institute for Security Studies (ISS) and the Office of the President of the Assembly of States Parties (ASP) to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC) collaborated to discuss how African countries can promote and deliver international justice.

Experts from selected African countries that have signed up to the Rome Statute, the African Union, the ICC, the Mechanism for International Criminal Tribunals, academia and non-governmental organisations convened in Pretoria from 4 – 6 November. This was the first time the ASP president’s office has co-hosted a high-level roundtable with an African think tank.

‘The Estonian Foreign Ministry and my office appreciate the longstanding cooperation with ISS in building bridges and increasing awareness on the importance of domestic accountability for international crimes’ said ASP President, Ambassador Tiina Intelman of Estonia, who participated in the roundtable.

The ISS aims to strengthen international criminal justice in Africa through research, analysis, technical assistance and training. Partnerships like this one with the Office of the ASP president help ensure that African perspectives are included in the global debate.

The roundtable was particularly useful for states such as Botswana that are committed to international criminal justice. Botswana is currently finalising a law that will effectively implement the provisions of the Rome Statute.

‘The ISS has once again proved beyond all reasonable doubt, as it has done over the years, to be the champion of Africa and its people by convening such an important event to discuss the difficult and controversial question of international criminal law and Africa’, said head of delegation and Secretary for Defence in the Ministry of Defence, Justice and Security in Botswana, Augustine Makgonatsotlhe.

Drawing on the ISS’s wide network of international justice practitioners in Africa, the roundtable provided a rare opportunity for critical and constructive debate among experts from often opposing constituencies. ‘We were happy to partner with ISS to bring together different stakeholders to have an open and frank discussion on international criminal justice in Africa,’ said Amb Intelman.

Recommendations from the roundtable were drafted by the ISS and will inform efforts by states, civil society organisations and the ICC to make international justice a reality on the continent.