N Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni played in the “War Victims Day Football Game”, held on Sunday 30 May 2010 at the Nambole National Stadium in Kampala, amidst cheers from about 20,000 people, on the eve of the Review Conference for the International Criminal Court (ICC).
The 60-minute match, which was organised by the Uganda Victims Foundation and the African Youth Initiative Network with organisational support and technical expertise No Peace Without Justice, aimed at honouring and demonstrate solidarity with the war victims world over.
The football players included: war victims from countries where the ICC are investigating war crimes (from Darfur, southern Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Central African Republic and Uganda), alongside with the President of the Assembly of States Parties of the ICC, ICC Review Conference Delegates, among whom the Ministers of Justice of Italy and the Netherlands, and Ugandan National Team football players.
Watch the AFP video of the event on Youtube by clicking on this link.
Declaration by Sergio Stanzani and Niccolo’ Figa-Talamanca, President and Secretary-General of No Peace Without Justice:
“The charity football game, held today in Kampala , on the eve of the Review Conference for the ICC, is a collective demonstration of the solidarity with all war victims in the whole world and celebrates the international community’s commitment to end impunity and to promote victim’s rights through an effective international criminal justice system.
While ICC States parties’ delegates are expected to review the performance of the founding Rome Statute and propose and debate changes in its mandate, victims, and those organisations who support them on a daily basis, should be recognised as active stakeholders in the ICC Review Conference process.
The global impact of football and sports as a way to come together cannot be overestimated and we are confident that the event will represent a global call for action to support war victims in the longer-term”.
Pictures of the event
Press coverage
For further information, contact Alison Smith on asmith@npwj.org or +32-548 39 12 or Nicola Giovannini on ngiovannini@npwj.org or +32-2-548-39 15.
Check the website www.victimsfootballday.org
Check also the special page dedicated to NPWJ Public Engagement Initiative on the occasion of the ICC Review Conference
