International Criminal Court president calls for more Asian participation

The president of the International Criminal Court (ICC) on Tuesday stressed the need to enhance cooperation and complementarity to prevent atrocities, calling for more states to join and provide justice, particularly in the Asia-Pacific region.

Judge Piotr Hofmanski, president of the International Criminal Court (ICC), on Tuesday speaks during the opening ceremony of the two-day high-level regional seminar, co-hosted by the Korean government and the ICC, at Lotte Hotel Seoul in downtown Seoul. [NEWS1]

The president of the International Criminal Court (ICC) on Tuesday stressed the need to enhance cooperation and complementarity to prevent atrocities, calling for more states to join and provide justice, particularly in the Asia-Pacific region.

“Unfortunately, the Asia-Pacific [APAC] region has the lowest participation,” Judge Piotr Hofmanski, the President of the ICC, said during his welcoming remarks at the two-day high-level regional seminar at Lotte Hotel Seoul in downtown Seoul.

Only 19 countries out of 123 state parties of the ICC are from the APAC region.

The Korean government and the ICC on Tuesday co-hosted a two-day high-level regional seminar in downtown Seoul to discuss the “past, present, and future of the Rome Statute” with high-level ministerial, judicial, and technical representatives from the APAC region.

The Rome Statute, adopted by the United Nations in 1998, was the foundation of establishing the ICC.

Silvia Fernandez de Gurmendi, the President of the Assembly of State Parties to the Rome Statute, echoed the need for expanding the court’s universality while expressing deep appreciation for Korea taking part.

Korea ratified the Rome Statute in 2002.

“The intimate cooperation of the international society, along with the ICC, is essential to respond to crimes against humanity and protect people’s lives and rights,” Justice Minister Han Dong-hoon said during his opening remarks.

Attended by government officials and regional experts in different countries, including Japan and Cambodia, participants are expected to discuss ways to enhance cooperation and complementarity of the Roman Statute system and to promote universal ratification amongst state parties.

The ICC was established as the first permanent international tribunal adopting the Roman Statute to criminally prosecute individuals who commit genocide, crimes against humanity and crimes of aggression and war.

It exercises its jurisdiction over individuals who have committed such crimes in or from 123 states that have ratified the international treaty, accounting for around two-thirds of states, according to ICC spokesperson Fadi El Abdallah.

Some major countries, including the United States and China, have not ratified their statutes and so are not under the jurisdiction of the ICC. The general rule is that the ICC cannot intervene if crimes occur in nonstate parties or are committed by citizens of non-parties.

The only exception is when the UN Security Council refers cases to the ICC, which has happened only twice, including a case regarding hostilities in Sudan’s Darfur region. The court has launched an investigation into 17 cases.

The court is also known for having issued an arrest warrant against Russian President Vladimir Putin in March for allegedly deporting Ukrainian children to Russia unlawfully. According to the court on Tuesday, the historic decision was not made for political reasons but because there was reasonable evidence of crimes against children.

BY CHO JUNG-WOO [cho.jungwoo1@joongang.co.kr]