Declaración del Punto Focal de la Corte Penal Internacional en el CSNU, en la reunión del Consejo de Seguridad sobre la situación en Darfur - 17 de enero de 2022 (texto en inglés)
Statement by H.E. Juan Ramón de la Fuente, ICC Focal point in the UNSC
Stake Out to the Press
Briefing
The situation in Darfur (ICC referral pursuant to resolution 1593)
New York, 17 January 2022
I would like to make the following statement on behalf of the following Members of the Security Council that are Parties to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC): Albania, Brazil, France, Gabon, Ghana, Ireland, Kenya, Norway, the United Kingdom, and my own country, Mexico.
We thank the ICC Prosecutor, Mr. Karim Khan, for the presentation of the 34th report to the Security Council on the situation in Darfur, in accordance with resolution 1593. We call upon all States to intensify efforts to secure the arrest and surrender to the Court of all ICC suspects-at-large.
Moreover, we welcome the visit of the Prosecutor to Sudan last August which concluded with the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding, on 12 August 2021. For the first time, this MoU has extended the Government of Sudan’s cooperation with the Office to include commitments to cooperate in relation to each of the four suspects not currently in ICC custody.
We also express our serious concern about the military takeover in Sudan on 25 October 2021. We again call upon all parties to exercise the utmost restraint, refrain from the use of violence and emphasize the importance of full respect for human rights, including the rights to peaceful assembly and freedom of expression. We are also concerned that political instability impacts the security situation in Darfur and call upon Sudan to offer its full support and cooperation with the Office of the Prosecutor.
Finally, we encourage all States to fully support the Court in carrying out its important mandate of ensuring justice for the victims of the most serious crimes under international law. We reconfirm our unwavering support for the Court as an independent, impartial and judicial institution of last resort which anchors the system of justice for serious international crimes that is primarily based on the jurisdiction of national courts. In this regard, we welcome the Prosecutor’s commitment to the core principle of complementarity. National authorities have the primary responsibility to investigate and prosecute Rome Statute crimes. The ICC only steps in when States are unwilling or unable to genuinely carry out national proceedings.
Thank you.