Dip. Felipe Michelini, Uruguay
Dip. Minou Tavárez, Dominican Rep.
Mr. Coşkun Çörüz,
MP, Netherlands
Sen. Carlos Cantero, Chile
Since 1989, when Honorable A.N.R. Robinson, then Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago and member of PGA called upon the UN General Assembly to re-launch the work to establish an international criminal tribunal, the activities of the the International Law and Human Rights (ILHR) Programme have focused on parliamentary mobilization to contribute to the creation and effective operation of the International Criminal Court (ICC).
PGA considers the adoption in 1998 of the Rome Statute as the first significant building block of a more just international legal order founded upon the principle of individual responsibility and equality of all before the law. For this reason, the work of the ILHR Programme is central to the attainment of PGA's vision, namely to contribute to the creation of a rules-based international order, for a more equitable, safe and democratic world.
The Parliamentary Campaign for the Effectiveness and Universality of the ICC System launched formally in 2001 has as its objective to support the work of both the ICC and of domestic jurisdictions in order to prevent, repress, and redress the commission of the most serious international crimes (crime of genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and the crime of aggression).
Due to the historic significance of the ICC system and its potential to promote peace and international security, PGA has avowed itself to make use of the political and legal parliamentary prerogatives of its members in order to:
The PGA ICC Campaign has as fundamental principles the respect of international human rights standards, the protection of victims, and the mainstreaming of gender justice.
Since 2009, PGA has also increased its focus of action to emphasise the parliamentary mobilisation to strengthen the rule of law at the domestic level –in war-torn societies in particular those under examination and investigation by the ICC– and at the international level –through the impartial, fair, transparent and timely intervention of the Security Council in situations where the most serious international crimes have been committed.
121 States have ratified or acceded to the Rome Statute of the ICC. PGA Members played an active role and directly contributed to the ratification of 75 of the states from all the regions of the globe that became States Parties to the Rome Statute.
No other parliamentary institution or organisation is engaged in a campaign for the universality of the Rome Statute. The President of the ICC, the ICC Prosecutor, and the President of the Assembly of States Parties have publicly recognised on several occasions the leading role played by PGA in creating a parliamentary constituency for the new system of international criminal justice.
For the work of PGA on the universality of the Rome Statute country-by-country, in selected regions, and in collaboration with regional and international organisations consult our map.
In parallel to its ratification campaign, the PGA Secretariat assists legislators in advocating, preparing and adopting implementing legislation on the Rome Statute, as far as only less than 40 of the 120 States Parties are equipped with this essential national legislation to prevent the most serious international crimes, prosecute them, and protect and redress its victims.
Over the past years, PGA Members have been so far extremely effective in securing the adoption of the ICC Implementing Legislation and the ratification or accession to the APIC in more than 25 countries.
For the work of PGA on implementing legislation country-by-country, in selected regions, and in collaboration with regional and international organisations consult our map or read more at the Implementing Legislation site.
PGA also participates actively to increase political mobilisation to see the prompt and law-abiding enforcement of the outstanding ICC arrest warrants with respect to the situations in Uganda, the DRC, Darfur, and Libya.
Since June 2010, PGA engages in parliamentary mobilisation in States Parties to ensure the ratification and domestic implementation of the amendments to the Rome Statute adopted by the Review Conference that met in Kampala, Uganda, concerning a definition and jurisdictional regime for the crime of aggression and the amendment to Article 8 on the use of certain prohibited weapons as war crimes in non-international armed conflicts (the so-called Belgian amendment).
Read more about the work of PGA at the Review Conference and on the Kampala Amendments on the crime of aggression.
The ILHR staff (ICC Team), directed by the Programme Convenors and supported by the PGA membership undertakes accurate analysis on the different issues stalling the ICC process in different countries.
Subsequently the (ICC team) activates trans-regional and national mobilization of parliamentarians who on the basis of multi-partisan involvement of stakeholders aim at overcoming the obstacles to ICC support. The tailored initiatives and activities of the Campaign are structured in such a way so as to ensure ‘cross-fertilization’ among country-specific activities, peer-to-peer dialogue, as well as the involvement of and coordination with the relevant actors and stakeholders of the ICC process.
In particular PGA members, with the support of the PGA Secretariat make use of a number of strategies and means to advance the goals of the ICC Campaign, including, but not limited to:
PGA is a founding member of the Steering Committee of the Coalition of NGOs for an International Criminal Court (CICC).
The PGA ICC Campaign is currently supported by the European Commission, by the Governments Belgium, The Netherlands and Switzerland and by Humanity United. Additionally, Parliaments and Governments in the countries where PGA operates make specific contributions to activities and initiatives.
In the past, the PGA ICC Campaign has also received financial support from the Ford Foundation, the Governments of Canada, Germany, and the United Kingdom, and from the Municipality of The Hague.
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