The Coalition of Arab Non-Governmental Organizations – which contains 54 NGOs[1][1] – welcomes Security Council resolution 1593 on the transfer of those responsible for committing crimes in Darfour, Sudan, to the permanent International Criminal Court (ICC).
While regarding this resolution – which targets individuals involved in crimes falling within the court’s jurisdiction – as a step forward for values of justice and human rights in political terms, the Coalition stresses that it was passed in response to victims’ demands rather than political expediency.
The resolution referring those accused of crimes falling within the ICC’s jurisdiction is the first time that the Security Council has practically applied article 13(2) of the ICC statute to transfer defendants to it. It is also the first time that defendants from an Arab country have been transferred using this provision.
The Sudanese defendants have been referred to the ICC despite the fact that Sudan has not ratified the Rome Statute according to which the Court was founded. It disproves what many states – in particular those from the Arab region – wrongly believe: that the ICC cannot try citizens for crimes committed within a state which has not ratified the Rome Statute.
This resolution consolidates the Coalition’s appeal to Arab governments made on the 25th December 2004 urging them to accede to and ratify the ICC’s founding statute in order to facilitate continuity between the domestic judiciary and the Court’s judges , and in order that they do not rely on their refusal to ratify the Statute as a means of escaping the Court’s jurisdiction.
The Coalition for an International Criminal Court calls on the Sudanese government to consider this situation from a human rights and legal, rather than political, perspective. Investigation proceedings have already begun, and under its international treaty obligations, Sudan must co-operate. The Coalition similarly calls on the Sudanese government to ratify the Rome Statute, and facilitate co-operation between the ICC’s judges and the Sudanese judiciary, allowing the Sudanese government to hold a fair and impartial trial of those accused of committing crimes falling within the Court’s jurisdiction.
[2][1] For a full listing of all the NGO members of the coalition please visit
