From: Tsegai Emmanuel (emmanuelt40@gmail.com)
Date: Thu Jul 15 2010 - 23:58:17 EDT
ICC to establish liaison office in the Ethiopian capital
Friday 16 July 2010.
July 15, 2010 (ADDIS ABABA) — The International Criminal Court (ICC) is set
to establish a liaison office in Addis Ababa after years of discussions on
the initiative.
[image: JPEG - 19.5 kb] *ICC President Sang-Hyun Song and African Union
Commission Chairperson Jean Ping meeting in Addis Ababa (AU Website) *
This comes after Judge Sang-Hyun Song, President of the ICC, concluded a two
day visit to Addis Ababa, the headquarters of the African Union (AU) and met
with its Commission Chairperson Jean Ping, who reiterated the body’s
commitment to end impunity.
A statement by the ICC said that both Ping and Song agreed that the AU and
the ICC share the common value of ending impunity and bringing about lasting
peace.
"They also agreed to work to facilitate the establishment of the Liaison
Office that would encourage dialogue and exchange of information and would
thus be for the mutual benefit of the two institutions" the statement said.
African states have feared that The Hague was stalling on financing a launch
to the liaison office after African countries collectively resolved not to
cooperate with the ICC in arresting and handing over Sudanese President Omar
El-Bashir who is wanted by the court for war crimes he allegedly committed
in Darfur,
This week the ICC judges added the charge of genocide to the list of counts
against the Sudanese head of state prompting criticism from Ping who said
that the latest move will not help resolve the crisis in Darfur.
The Kenyan Attorney-general Amos Wako, who was mandated by African countries
to write to the ICC to question the delay in establishing the office, was
yesterday happy that finally, The Hague had agreed to fund the office.
“Those are good news because African member-states to the Rome Statute were
concerned about the inactivity of the ICC when it had agreed to set up the
office. It is a good reply to the letter that I wrote on their behalf,” he
said.
The International Criminal Court is the only permanent international court
established with the mission to help put an end to impunity for the
perpetrators of the most serious crimes, namely the crime of genocide,
crimes against humanity and war crimes, and thus to contribute to the
prevention of such crimes.
(ST)
----[This List to be used for Eritrea Related News Only]----