Reject impunity: Don’t withdraw from the ICC

Declaration of FIDH and more than 100 Member and Partner Organisations (List below)

Our organisations defend human rights worldwide and accompany victims of the most serious crimes, wherever they occur and whomever the perpetrators. We fervently deplore actions taken by the governments of Burundi and South Africa to withdraw from the International Criminal Court (ICC) and express our concern that these initial announcements may be the prelude to further withdrawals.

We strongly believe that the International Criminal Court must aspire to universality. The ICC can intervene only when national justice systems with jurisdiction do not have the will or capacity to bring justice to victims. As both ratifications by 124 States and continued civil society engagement make clear, the ICC has a vital role to play in the pursuit of global justice.

The current investigation into crimes committed in Georgia, and advances in the preliminary examinations opened in Afghanistan, Palestine, Ukraine and Iraq/UK, among others, reflect the direction the Office of the Prosecutor (OTP) of the ICC may take in future investigations. Those steps indicate that the OTP will not shy away from exercising its jurisdiction over international crimes within its jurisdiction, even when those crimes may have been committed by individuals from major world powers, such as the United States, Israel, Russia or the United Kingdom. We will continue to advocate for the OTP and the ICC as a whole to conduct such investigations.

We must remember that if the ICC has opened investigations in African countries during its first years of existence, it is in part because African States themselves overwhelmingly supported the creation of the ICC since 1998 by ratifying the Rome Statute and took a global leadership role in advancing the movement for accountability. Many African states have referred their own cases to the ICC to investigate the most serious crimes committed on their soil.

We believe that withdrawing from the ICC puts a premium on impunity. Withdrawal poses a threat to one of the greatest advances in justice of the 21st century, at a time when genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes are perpetrated regularly and rampantly worldwide.
Make no mistake: only the powerful and the heartless fear the ICC, not the victims who place hopes in the Court when their quest for justice bears no fruit at the national level. This is true in Africa as on all other continents: no one should be shielded from justice.

We call on States Parties not to withdraw from the ICC and for States who have not ratified the Rome Statute to do so as soon as possible. International criminal justice is critical to making our world a fairer and safer place. This is not only a matter of accountability or of respect for human rights: it is a matter of preserving our common future.

1. Al Haq (Palestine)
2. Al Marsad – Arab Human Rights Centre in Golan Heights
3. Alternative ASEAN Network on Burma – ALTSEAN-Burma (Burma)
4. Anti-Discrimination Centre “Memorial” (Russia)
5. Armanshahr / OPEN ASIA (Afghanistan)
6. Asociación Pro Derechos Humanos – APRODEH (Perú)
7. Asociacion pro derechos humanos de Espana – APDHE (Espana)
8. Association Cri de Coeur (Mali)
9. Association Démocratique des Femmes du Maroc – ADFM (Maroc)
10. Associations des juristes maliennes – AJM (Mali)
11. Association des victimes de la répression (Guinée)
12. Association des victimes du Camp Boiro (Guinée)
13. Association des victimes, parents et amis du 28 septembre 2009 – AVIPA (Guinée)
14. Association malienne des droits de l’homme – AMDH (Mali)
15. Association Marocaine des droits Humains – AMDH (Maroc)
16. Association mauritanienne des droits de l’Homme – AMDH (Mauritanie)
17. Association tunisienne des femmes démocrates – ATFD (Tunisie)
18. Bahrain Center for Human Rights – BCHR (Bahrain)
19. Bureau on Human Rights and Rule of Law (Tajikistan)
20. Cambodian Human Rights and Development Association – ADHOC (Cambodia)
21. Cambodian League for the Promotion and Defense of Human Rights – LICADHO (Cambodia)
22. Center for Civil Liberties – CCL (Ukraine)
23. Center for Constitutional Rights – CCR (USA)
24. Centre canadien pour la justice internationale (Canada)
25. Centre Libanais pour les Droits Humains – CLDH (Liban)
26. Centre Oecuménique des droits humains – CEDH (Haïti)
27. Centro de Acción legal en Derechos Humanos – CALDH (Guatemala)
28. Centro de Capacitación Social de Panamá – CCS (Panama)
29. Centro de Estudios Legales y Sociales – CELS (Argentina)
30. Centro de Investigación y Promoción de los Derechos Humanos – CIPRODEH (Honduras)
31. Centro de Políticas Públicas y Derechos Humanos – EQUIDAD (Perú)
32. Centro Nicaragûense de Derechos Humanos – CENIDH (Nicaragua)
33. Citizen Watch (Russia)
34. Civil Society Institute (Armenia)
35. Club Union Africaine (Côte d’Ivoire)
36. Comisión de Derechos Humanos del Salvador – CDHES (El Salvador)
37. Comisión ecuménica de derechos humanos – CEDHU (Ecuador)
38. Comisión Mexicana de Defensa y Promoción de los Derechos Humanos – CMDPDH (Mexico)
39. Comisión Nacional de los Derechos Humanos INC – CNDH (República Dominicana)
40. Comité de Acción Jurídica – CAJ (Argentine)
41. Comité Permanente por la Defensa de los Derechos Humanos – CPDH (Colombia)
42. Commission for the Disappeared and Victims of Violence – KontraS (Indonesia)
43. Committee on the Administration of Justice – CAJ (Ireland)
44. Committees For The Defense Of Democracy Freedoms And Human Rights – CDF
45. Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative – CHRI (India)
46. Corporación Colectivo de Abogados José Alvear Restrepo – CCAJAR (Colombia)
47. Corporación de Promoción y Defensa de los Derechos del Pueblo – CODEPU (Chile)
48. Damascus Center for Human Rights Studies – DCHRS (Syria)
49. DITSHWANELO – The Botswana Centre for Human Rights (Botswana)
50. Dutch League for Human Rights / Liga voor de Rechten van de Mens (The Netherlands)
51. End Impunity Organization (South Sudan)
52. Federación de Asociaciones de Defensa y Promoción de los Derechos Humanos – FADPDH (Espana)
53. Finnish League for Human Rights (Finland)
54. Foundation for Human Rights Initiative – FHRI (Uganda)
55. Fundación regional de Asesoría en Derechos Humanos – INREDH (Ecuador)
56. Groupe Lotus (République démocratique du Congo)
57. Hellenic League for Human Rights (Greece)
58. Human Rights Centre – HRIDC (Georgia)
59. Human Rights Center “Viasna” (Belarus)
60. Human Rights Commission of Pakistan – HRCP (Pakistan)
61. Human Rights Movement “Bir Duino” (Kyrgyzstan)
62. Human Rights Protection Centre “Kylym Shamy” (Kyrgyzstan)
63. Instituto Latinoamericano de Servicios Legales Alternativos – ILSA (Colombia)
64. International Campaign for Tibet – ICT
65. International human rights organisation “Fiery Hearts Club” (Uzbekhistan)
66. International Legal Initiative (Kazakhstan)
67. Internet Law Reform Dialogue – iLaw (Thailand)
68. Justiça global – CJG (Brasil)
69. Justice for Iran – JFI (Iran)
70. Kenyan Human Rights Commission – KHRC (Kenya)
71. Kazakhstan International Bureau for Human Rights (Kazakhstan)
72. Lao Movement for Human Rights – LMHR (Laos)
73. Latvian Human Rights Committee (Latvia)
74. League for Defence of Human Rights – LADO (Romania)
75. Legal and Human Rights Centre – LHRC (Tanzania)
76. Liga Argentina por los Derechos del Hombre – LADH (Argentine)
77. Ligue Algérienne pour la défense des droits de l’Homme (Algérie)
78. Ligue centrafricaine des droits de l’Homme – LCDH (Centrafrique)
79. Ligue de Défense des Droits de l’Homme en Iran – LDDHI (Iran)
80. Ligue des droits de l’Homme – LDH (Belgique)
81. Ligue des électeurs (République démocratique du Congo)
82. Ligue des Droits de l’Homme – LDH (France)
83. Lega Italiana dei Diritti Umani – LIDU (Italy)
84. Ligue Iteka (Burundi)
85. Ligue ivoirienne des droits de l’Homme – LIDHO (Côte d’Ivoire)
86. Liga lidských práv – Human Rights League – HRL (Czech Republic)
87. Ligue sénégalaise des droits humains (Sénégal)
88. Mêmes droits pour tous – MDT (Guinée)
89. Mouvement ivoirien des droits humains – MIDH (Côte d’Ivoire)
90. Norwegian Helsinki Committee – NHC (Norway)
91. Observatoire centrafricain des droits de l’Homme – OCDH (Centrafrique)
92. Observatoire congolais des droits de l’Homme – OCDH (République du Congo)
93. Observatoire ivoirien des droits humains – OIDH (Côte d’Ivoire)
94. Odhikar (Bangladesh)
95. Organisation des femmes actives de Côte d’Ivoire – OFACI (Côte d’Ivoire)
96. Organisation Marocaine des droits Humains – OMDH (Maroc)
97. Philippine Alliance of Human Rights Advocates – PAHRA (Philippines)
98. Promo-LEX (Moldova)
99. Regroupement des acteurs ivoiriens des droits de l’Homme – RAIDH (Côte d’Ivoire)
100. Réseau Doustourna
101. Réseau national de défense des droits de l’Homme – RNDDH (Haïti)
102. Sister’s Arab Forum – SAF (Yemen)
103. Suara Rakyat Malaysia – SUARAM (Malaysia)
104. Syria Center for Media and Freedom of Expression – SCM (Syria)
105. Union for Civil Liberty – UCL (Thailand)
106. Unione forense per la tutela dei diritti umani – UFTDU (Italy)
107. Vietnam Committee on Human Rights – VCHR (Vietnam)
108. Women in law and development in Africa – Wildaf-Mali (Mali)