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THURSDAY, MAY 15, 2014 WFUNA is proud to join Human Rights Watch and over 100 civil society groups from around the world in signing a statement that urges the UN Security Council to refer the situation in Syria to the International Criminal Court. Read the full release below: Syria: Groups Call for ICC Referral Statement by Civil […]
THURSDAY, MAY 15, 2014
WFUNA is proud to join Human Rights Watch and over 100 civil society groups from around the world in signing a statement that urges the UN Security Council to refer the situation in Syria to the International Criminal Court.
Read the full release below:
Syria: Groups Call for ICC Referral
Statement by Civil Society Organizations on Need for Justice
(New York, May 15, 2014) – Over one hundred civil society groups from around the world issued the following statement today to urge the United Nations Security Council to approve a resolution to refer the situation in Syria to the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court:
We, the undersigned civil society groups, urge United Nations Security Council members to approve a draft resolution supported by a broad coalition of countries that would refer the situation in Syria to the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC).
More than three years into a conflict that has claimed well over 100, 000 lives, according to the United Nations, atrocity crimes are being committed with complete impunity by all sides in the conflict, with no end in sight.
Neither Syrian authorities nor the leaders of non-state armed groups have taken any meaningful steps to ensure accountability for past and ongoing grave human rights crimes. The failure to hold those responsible for these violations to account has only fueled further atrocities by all sides. Against this background, we believe the ICC is the forum most capable of effectively investigating and prosecuting the people who bear the greatest responsibility for serious crimes and of offering a measure of justice for victims in Syria.
The latest report from the UN’s Syria Commission of Inquiry, published on March 5, also found that all sides to the Syria conflict continued to commit serious crimes under international law and held that the Security Council was failing to take action to end the state of impunity. The commission, which has published seven in-depth reports since its establishment in August 2011, recommended that the Security Council give the ICC a mandate to investigate abuses in Syria.
The need for accountability in Syria through the ICC has likewise been supported by more than 60 UN member countries, representing all regions of world, including 10 of the current members of the Security Council. We urge all Security Council members to heed this call for justice. Other countries should publicly support the draft resolution and warn Russia and China against using their veto power to obstruct accountability for violations by all sides.
As a permanent international court with a mandate to prosecute war crimes and crimes against humanity when national authorities are unable or unwilling to do so, the ICC was created to address exactly the type of situation that exists in Syria today. Though the court’s work can be only one piece of the larger accountability effort needed in Syria, it is a crucial first step.
We therefore strongly urge Security Council members to urgently act to fill the accountability gap in Syria. The people of Syria cannot afford further disappointment or delay.
Co-signing organizations in alphabetical order:
1. Action des Chrétiens pour l’Abolition de la Torture, France
2. Amnesty International, Benin
3. Advocates for Public International Law, Uganda
4. Arabic Network for Human Rights Information, Egypt
5. Asia Pacific Centre for the Responsibility to Protect, Australia
6. Act for Peace, Australia
7. Arab Coalition for Sudan, Sudan
8. Arab Program for Human Rights Activists, Egypt
9. Arab-European Center Of Human Rights And International Law, Norway
10. Arab Foundation for Development and Citizenship, United Kingdom
11. Andalus Institute for Tolerance and anti-Violence Studies, Egypt
12. Benin Coalition for the International Criminal Court, Benin
13. Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies, Egypt
14. Campaña Colombiana Contra Minas, Colombia
15. Center for Media Studies and Peacebuilding, Liberia
16. Child Soldiers International, United Kingdom
17. Christian Solidarity Worldwide, Belgium
18. Club des Amis du Droit du Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo
19. Coalition Ivoirienne pour la Cour Penale Internationale, Cote d’Ivoire
20. Colombian Commission of Jurists, Colombia
21. Community Empowerment for Progress Organization, South Sudan
22. Conflict Monitoring Center, Pakistan
23. Congress of National Minorities of Ukraine, Ukraine
24. Comité Catholique Contre la Faim et Pour le Développement – Terre Solidaire, France
25. Comision Mexicana de Defensa y Promocion de los Derechos Humanos, Mexico
26. CSO Network, Western Kenya
27. Dawlaty Foundation, Lebanon
28. Democracia Global, Argentina
29. East Africa Law Society, Tanzania
30. Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights, Egypt
31. Elman Peace and Human Rights Center, Somalia
32. Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Network
33. FN-forbundet / Danish United Nations Association, Denmark
34. Franciscans International
35. Fundación de Antropología Forense, Guatemala
36. Georgian Young Lawyers Association, Georgia
37. Genocide Alert, Germany
38. Global Solutions.org, United States
39. Global Justice Center, United States
40. Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect, United States
41. Gulf Centre for Human Rights, Denmark
42. Horiyat for Development and Human Rights, Libya
43. Humanist Institute for Development Cooperation, The Netherlands
44. Humanitarian Law Center Kosovo, Kosovo
45. Human Rights First, United States
46. Human Rights Watch
47. International Justice Project, United States
48. International Commission of Jurists, Kenya
49. International Society for Civil Liberties & the Rule of Law, Nigeria
50. International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies, United States
51. International Federation of Action by Christians for the Abolition of Torture, France
52. International Center for Policy and Conflict, Kenya
53. Insan, Lebanon
54. Jacob Blaustein Institute for the Advancement of Human Rights, United States
55. Justice Without Frontiers, Lebanon
56. Kenya Human Rights Commission, Kenya
57. La Coalition Burundaise pour la Cour Penale Internationale, Burundi
58. Lira NGO Forum, Uganda
59. Ligue pour la Paix, les Droits de l’Homme et la Justice, Democratic Republic of Congo
60. Media Foundation for West Africa, Ghana
61. Minority Rights Group International, United Kingdom
62. National Youth Action, Inc., Liberia
63. No Peace Without Justice, Italy
64. Norwegian People’s Aid, Norway
65. Optimum Travail du Burkina, Burkina Faso
66. Open Society Justice Initiative
67. Pakistan Body Count, Pakistan
68. PAX, The Netherlands
69. Pax Christi International
70. Parliamentarians for Global Action
71. El Equipo Peruano de Antropología Forense, Peru
72. Physicians for Human Rights, United States
73. Pak Institute for Peace Studies, Pakistan
74. REDRESS, United Kingdom
75. Reporters without Borders, France
76. Rencontre africaine pour la défense des droits de l’homme (Raddho-Guinée), Guinea
77. Reseau Equitas, Cote D’Ivoire
78. Samir Kassir Foundation, Lebanon
79. Southern Africa Litigation Centre, South Africa
80. South African Institute for Advanced Constitutional, Public, Human Rights and International Law, South Africa
81. Syrian Network for Human Rights, United Kingdom
82. Syria Justice & Accountability Center, The Netherlands
83. Syrian Nonviolence Movement, France
84. Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, United Kingdom
85. Synergie des ONGs Congolaises pour la lutte contre les Violences Sexuelles, Democratic Republic of Congo
86. Synergie des ONGs Congolaises pour les Victimes, Democratic Republic of Congo
87. The International Federation for Human Rights, France
88. The Centre for Accountability and Rule of Law, Sierra Leone
89. The Association of Political Scientists, Greece
90. The Sentinel Project for Genocide Prevention, Canada
91. The Igarape Institute, Brazil
92. The Arab World Center for Democratic Development, Jordan
93. The United Nations Association of Sweden, Sweden
94. United to End Genocide, United States
95. Vision GRAM-International, Canada
96. Violations Documentation Center, Syria
97. Wake Up Genève for Syria, Switzerland
98. West Africa Civil Society Institute, Ghana
99. West African Bar Association, Nigeria
100. World Federalist Movement, Canada
101. World Federation of United Nations Associations
102. Zarga Organization for Rural Development, Sudan
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