ICC and Kenya: NPWJ urges Court to maximise its field presence

 
On 8 April 2011, Pre-Trial Chamber II of the International Criminal Court set the date for the commencement of confirmation of charges hearings against three persons suspected of having committed serious crimes during the post-election violence in Kenya. NPWJ welcomes the voluntary appearance of the three individuals and encourages them to continue cooperating with the Court. NPWJ also calls on the Kenyan authorities to investigate and prosecute other people responsible for crimes committed during the PEV, and calls on Kenyan civil society and legal professionals to support the intervention of the ICC and national proceedings through continued activism, documentation and legal actions.
 
This same week, NPWJ together with other non-governmental organisations took part in a four-day strategic discussion with all organs of the ICC, during which the Court's impact in Kenya and elsewhere was a central policy issue. NPWJ took the occasion to urge the Court to maximise its field presence; intensify its outreach efforts in Libya and the MENA region; and ensure that its positive impact in Uganda is maintained. 
 
NPWJ also briefed members of the diplomatic community in The Hague, together with other NGOs, on strategies to maximise the long-term impact of the Court. This impact covers a range of areas, not just from a qualitative point of view, in terms of the ICC’s effectiveness in providing justice for victims and the sustainability of its impact on the ground in situation countries, but also from a financial perspective. NPWJ urges the Court and its State Parties to evaluate the cause-effect relationship between the activities carried out by the Court today and the repercussions of such activities on trials in the long term, giving weight to the increased focus being placed by ICC States Parties on ways in which the ICC can strengthen its legacy, relevance and impact in countries in which it is taking an interest. At the 9th Session of the Assembly of States Parties in December 2010, ICC States Parties called for an enhanced field presence of the Court, in order to optimise the relevance and impact of the Court in countries where it carries out its work. They also strongly supported outreach, public information and communications on the Court, encouraging the ICC to start outreach at the earliest possible opportunity, including during the preliminary examinations phase.
 
No Peace Without Justice is a founding member of the NGO Coalition for the International Criminal Court (CICC) and one of the organisations at the forefront of promoting the establishment and entry into force of the permanent International Criminal Court (ICC). NPWJ continues to work for universal ratification and implementation of the Rome Statute and the effective operations of the ICC.
 
 
For further information, contact Alison Smith on asmith@npwj.org or +32-486-986 235 or Nicola Giovannini on ngiovannini@npwj.org or +32-2-548-3915.