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PGA’s vision is to contribute to the creation of a Rules-Based International Order for a more equitable, safe, sustainable and democratic world.

2013 Working Session on the ICC convened by the Permanent Council of the OAS

Meeting at the office of United States Representative and PGA member Mr. Jim Mc Govern with Diputada Minou Tavarez Mirabal, Rep. Dominicana, PGA Chair of International Council.
Meeting at the office of United States Representative and PGA member Mr. Jim Mc Govern with Diputada Minou Tavarez Mirabal, Rep. Dominicana, PGA Chair of International Council.

On April 11, 2013, the Chairperson of the International Council of PGA addressed the Political and Juridical Affairs Committee of the Organisation of American States at its regular high-level session on the International Criminal Court. Dip. Minou Tavarez Mirabal (Dominican Republic), accompanied by PGA's Secretary-General and Senior Director of the International Law and Human Rights Program participated in this programme, following the interventions made by the Amb. Insulza, Secretary-General of the OAS, Jugde Song, President of the ICC, and Amb. Tiina Intelmann, President of the Assembly of States Parties of the Rome Statute. Representatives from the Office of the Prosecutor, the Cooperation Office of the Registry, the Coalition for the International Criminal Court and the International Committee for the Red Cross also intervened in this event chaired by Amb. Andrés González Días (Colombia), and attended by the Permanent Representatives of OAS members in Washington, D.C.

Dip. Minou Tavarez Mirabal reflected on the ways states could strengthen the ICC. It focused on the work of PGA to promote the ratifications of El Salvador, Haiti and Jamaica, and recalled states of their obligations to ensure the adoption of legislation to enable states to prosecute the most serious international crimes domestically, and to cooperate with the international prosecutions of the ICC. Diputada Tavarez Mirabal also requested that all OAS members ratify the Kampala Amendments to the Rome Statute to ensure the protection of the prohibition of the use of force in international relations among American States.

Dip. Minou Tavarez Mirabal also suggested that Washington-based Embassies and Missions could participate in diplomatic efforts to ensure that non-essential contacts with ICC indictees are avoided, and that those sought by the Court for their alleged involvement in international crimes are not hosted in states parties to the Rome Statute. Dip. Tavarez recalled the obligation owed by all States to the growing number of victims of international crimes around the world.