Message from Mary Robinson, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights The Hague Appeal for Peace Launch of the Global Campaign for the Ratification of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court

The Hague, 13 May 1999



Chair, Ladies and Gentlemen,


The adoption in Rome last summer of the Statute of the International Criminal Court signals a major advance, not only in the concrete implementation of international criminal law, but also of international humanitarian law and international human rights law. The material competence of the Court over genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity, is designed to cover the most serious violations of human dignity, whether these violations are committed during or outside armed conflict and regardless of the individual perpetrator’s rank, official capacity or other incidental aspect, in any case where the State Party to the Statute is unwilling or unable to enforce criminal justice on its own.

I urge all Governments that have not already done so, to sign and ratify the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, and wherever necessary, to adopt implementing domestic law to ensure the Court’s requests, orders and decisions meet full compliance.

With the momentum achieved in Rome, we need 60 ratifications of the Statute in the shortest possible time to see the International Criminal Court commence its work. Widespread ratification and the active and sustained support of all States are essential for the Court to fulfill the lofty purposes for which it was designed.