Statement by Zeid Ra’ad al Hussein, High Commissioner for Human Rights at the Criminalizing the illegal use of force: Activating the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court over the crime of aggression in 2017

23 September 2016
New York

Excellencies,

Colleagues, friends,

This is an important occasion in the struggle to end impunity. It is difficult to cast back 20 years ago working on the Statute which seemed at the time an impossible endeavor. But it did not have the gloom of today. The spirit was alive and the attitudes were positive and dynamic.

We thought the crime of aggression was not something we could resolve. After a few attempts we knew it was not going anywhere. We requested the help of Ambassador Christian Wenaweser (Liechtenstein) and Stefan Barriga (Liechtenstein) who began to create a path. Slowly we made sense of the contradictions. Nothing comes close to how complicated this was, but under Liechtenstein’s leadership we moved it forward.

We went to Kampala, and had a definition but no ground for jurisdiction. Through the leadership of Christian and Stefan we arrived at this point. And look where we are now, look what the power of intellectual energy can accomplish. It is not perfect, but it is a testimony to the achievement of the States Parties.

I am proud to be here and look back on all that we achieved, and to be part of the march forward.