ACTING HIGH COMMISSIONER TAKES PART IN PUBLIC HEARING AT INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL TRIBUNAL

18 June 2003




The following is the statement delivered by acting United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Bertrand Ramcharan at a public hearing organized by the Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court and held at The Hague Academy of International Law, Peace Palace, 18 June 2003:
It is an honor for me to be here with you today. I am deeply encouraged by the rapid progress being made towards the full functioning of the International Criminal Court and in this regard, extend my warmest congratulations to Mr. Luis Moreno-Ocampo who has the distinction of being confirmed as the first Chief Prosecutor of this most noble institution.
I am glad to note that we have begun to have very fruitful discussions with the Office of the Prosecutor. We were especially pleased to receive Luis Moreno-Ocampo during his recent visit to Geneva in May and to engage him on a range of issues. The High Commissioner took the opportunity to reiterate our Office’s steadfast support for the ICC in its fight to break the vicious cycle of gross human rights violations and impunity.
We have gathered here to discuss policy questions facing the Office of the Prosecutor as it starts its work. I have read the draft policy paper and Draft Regulations with great interest. In that context, let me say a few words about the relationship between the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and the Office of the Prosecutor, mandated to investigate and prosecute crimes of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes.
Areas for Co-operation:
Both the OHCHR and the ICC have mandates to ensure that human dignity and rights are steadfastly protected. OHCHR is directly responsible for monitoring and fact-finding through its field offices and missions of inquiry; it performs a secretariat role, providing support to the Commission on Human Rights and its Special Procedures, such as Special Rapporteurs, and to international commissions of inquiry or fact-finding bodies; it provides substantive backstopping to peace operations; and it is responsible for mainstreaming human rights in the UN system. With these roles in mind, we see three areas for possible co-operation between the OHCHR and the ICC: information-sharing, prevention, and technical cooperation.
As regards the first, the High Commissioner carries out visits to conflict zones and the OHCHR has field presences in 7 countries that have ratified the ICC Statute and more than 20 other countries that may well ratify in future. OHCHR Desk Officers in Geneva monitor human rights in every nation in the world. OHCHR has expertise in commissions of inquiries into gross violations of human rights as well as in investigating mass-graves as it has done in Afghanistan and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It has expertise in the protection of witnesses and victims and has testified before the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia. All these activities may be relevant to the ICC.
Another development is also noteworthy. The Security Council is increasingly receiving reports from the High Commissioner, as in the case of massacres in the DRC and on the situation in Cote d’Ivoire. This may indicate how the Council’s referral powers under the ICC Statute will be exercised at least in the near term.
In some States Parties to the ICC Statute, the Commission on Human Rights has appointed experts to examine and report on the human rights situation. These countries include Afghanistan, Cambodia and the DRC. Additionally, the findings of thematic mechanisms of the Commission on Human Rights could be of interest to the ICC Prosecutor: for example, the Special Rapporteurs on enforced disappearances, extra-judicial executions, torture, internally-displaced persons, racism and xenophobia, children in armed conflict, the independence of judges and lawyers, and violence against women.
States Parties to the ICC Statute are also parties to human rights treaties and report to the treaty monitoring bodies. The treaty bodies provide important assessments of the strengths and weaknesses of domestic legal systems. Their reports may be an important source of information for the ICC.
With regard to prevention, the mere existence of an effective international criminal justice regime could serve to deter those who plan to commit genocide, war crimes or crimes against humanity. At the same time, a key priority for the High Commissioner for Human Rights is the development of national protection systems anchored in the rule of law and the protection of the judiciary and partner institutions. A number of human rights treaties embody a prevention regime that addresses issues within the scope of the ICC.
Under the complementarity principle, the operation of the ICC Statute is interrelated with the capacity of States to conduct national prosecutions through their domestic legal systems. Governments need assistance to ensure that legislation and judicial processes enable them to genuinely carry out these national prosecutions in a manner consistent with the terms of the ICC Statute and in conformity with international human rights law. OHCHR is willing to work jointly with the ICC to explore how best to assist States in adapting their laws and practices to the ICC requirements. As Mr. Moreno-Ocampo noted in his speech to the Assembly of States Parties in New York, the first task of the Prosecutor’s Office is to ‘make its best effort to help national jurisdictions fulfill their missions.’ One way to do this, Mr. Moreno-Ocampo said, was ‘by giving the State the information received from different public sources or providing the State’s personnel with training and technical support.’ This fits with the OHCHR’s technical cooperation programme which provides, inter alia, assistance to ensuring consistency of national legislation with international human rights standards, training for justice sector officials, and the establishment of national human rights institutions.
There are some situations where prosecution is not the best solution, as in the case of juveniles. The Prosecutor for the Sierra Leone Tribunal, for example, has announced that he will not prosecute those under 18. Instead, Sierra Leone’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission addresses juvenile justice. OHCHR supports the work of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Additionally, it has supported national prosecutions of war crimes or crimes against humanity in the Balkans, Cambodia, Colombia, and Haiti.
Challenges of co-operation:
In various circumstances, one or more human rights actors could be present in situations of interest to the ICC, conducting fact-finding missions, monitoring the situation, or even investigating situations. Country or thematic rapporteurs, special commissions of inquiry or similar bodies may be monitoring situations of unrest, possibly even conducting country visits; a country may host an OHCHR field office with a protection mandate; a peace operation may be monitoring a cease fire under Chapter VII; and so forth. In those situations, it may well happen that UN staff or UN mandated independent experts come across evidence or information that may be of direct relevance for future action by the ICC Prosecutor. As we know, often, the only way to preserve crucial evidence is to gather it at once. In order to be consistent with its position on impunity, OHCHR has the duty to ensure that information be collected and handled in a professional manner so as not to destroy its legal value before a court of law.
Techniques used in human rights monitoring, fact finding and investigations are not designed to match the more stringent requirements of investigations of a criminal nature. But experience has shown that human rights work is potentially complementary with inquiries of a criminal nature. The time is ripe to work out an easier interface between the two fields. Making human rights data gathering and management techniques fully compatible with criminal standards is an achievable goal. The historical moment is also highly propitious. OHCHR will need to develop, possibly in collaboration with the ICC, protocols for monitoring, fact-finding and investigation. This has important implications for the Office and must be addressed expeditiously.
My Office is currently studying various aspects of a cooperation framework between the OHCHR and the ICC, including the modalities for sharing information. It is my hope that we will put in place effective arrangements soon and I pledge the support of the OHCHR to the ICC.



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