The Assembly of the Council of Europe calls on the ICC to initiate examinations into crimes committed by ISIS/Daesh foreign fighters.

In a Resolution 2134 (2016) “Co-operation with the International Criminal Court: towards a concrete and expanded commitment” adopted on October 12^th 2016,  the Assembly of the Council of Europe calls on the ICC to initiate examinations into crimes committed by ISIS/Daesh foreign fighters.

The Assembly restated its full support for the International Criminal Court (ICC), the first ever permanent independent judicial institution with jurisdiction over individuals accused of the most serious crimes affecting the whole international community: genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes.

The resolution, based on the report prepared by Alain Destexhe (Belgium, ADLE) and unanimously adopted, urges the Council of Europe member states, its observer states, the Assembly’s observer states and states having partner for democracy status with the Assembly to reassert their commitment to the ICC by signing and ratifying without further delay the Rome Statute, the Kampala amendments and the Agreement on the Privileges and Immunities of the ICC. 

It also calls on them to enact effective legislation implementing the Rome Statute, in particular by incorporating the crimes and general principles of law defined therein into their domestic criminal legislation and establishing procedures for full and effective co-operation with the Court.

The adopted text calls on member States and observer States who are members of the United Nations Security Council, “to collaborate and, within two months, to put a resolution to the United Nations Security Council which ensures the effective prosecution of those responsible for acts of genocide, crimes against humanity and other war crimes in Syria and Iraq”.

It also calls on the ICC Prosecutor to reconsider her decision of April 2015 not to initiate preliminary examinations into crimes committed by ISIS/Daesh foreign fighters, in the light of new and overwhelming evidence available to her, and to expeditiously recognise her jurisdiction over the perpetrators of genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes in Syria and Iraq as far as it is possible.

Lastly, the resolution calls on states to provide the ICC with effective budgetary resources to enable it to fulfil its tasks in an independent and efficient manner and to make meaningful contributions to the Trust Fund for Victims, thereby signalling that the ICC is delivering not only retributive and preventative justice but also restorative justice.

Source : CoE