Since the seventh session of the Assembly of States Parties (hereinafter "the ASP" or "the Assembly"), the International Criminal Court (hereinafter "the ICC" or "the Court") has continued to work actively in four situation countries (Uganda, Democratic Republic of Congo, Darfur-Sudan and the Central African Republic) on many different levels: investigative and prosecutorial activities, engaging communities and victims through outreach and public information, liaising with actors to ensure cooperation with the Court, among many others. A major step was taken in 2009: the first ICC trial opened on 26 January. This marked the Court’s entering of a phase of full operations with daily hearings and active involvement on the ground to engage affected communities meaningfully in the Court’s trials.
Victims continue to show interest in the ICC proceedings and to participate actively in them. This year, the ICC has seen the participation of victims in trial for the first time. Victims have been able to exercise their rights concretely and to make tangible contributions to the proceedings. The first ICC trial has seen the participation of 105 victims. Over 350 victims will participate in the Katanga & Ngudjolo trial. Also, 34 victims participated in the confirmation of charges haring against Bemba, and 78 did so in the Abu Garda hearing.
While these are exciting developments, FIDH considers that the Court must continue to work hard in order to make victim participation truly meaningful. The development of an adequate victims’ strategy is essential for that to happen. In addition, FIDH believes that meaningful participation requires increased efforts for adequate legal representation.
2009 has also been a challenging year for the Court as an institution. The issuance of the first arrest warrant against an African sitting Head of State has brought about questions and generated discussions about the role of the ICC in Africa. As FIDH has stated repeatedly, there are a number of reasons which justified the Court’s involvement in Africa: Africa constitutes the largest regional block of states which have ratified the Rome Statute; three of the four situations before the Court have been referred to the Prosecutor by African States themselves, the fourth one was referred by the Security Council upon consideration that the conflict in Darfur threatened international peace and security; the ICC intervention has been determined by the gravity of the crimes perpetrated in all four countries currently under investigation. It must also be recalled that the ICC is working to provide justice to African victims, who have been unable to obtain an effective remedy in their own countries.
This is the context in which the eighth session of the Assembly will take place. FIDH acknowledges that there are an important number of issues before this session of the Assembly, including a strong focus on the preparations for the Review Conference, cooperation with the Court, the programme budget for 2010, among others.
FIDH has actively contributed to the papers developed by the Coalition for the ICC (CICC) Thematic Teams and subscribes to their content and recommendations. Thesepapers are available on the CICC website.
This paper focuses on a number of selected issues and makes specific recommendations on areas on which FIDH has particular expertise, and which, for the most part, are not fully addressed by CICC Team papers. This document covers the following matters: the development of a Court-wide victims’ strategy; the establishment of an adequate system of legal representation for victims; other budget-related matters concerning victims’ issues; and the Trust Fund for Victims.