On 10 October 2011, the Government of Cape Verde formally deposited its instrument of accession to the Rome Statue of the International Criminal Court (ICC) with the Office of the United Nations Secretary General. According to Article 126(2), the Rome Statute will enter into force for Cape Verde on 1 January 2012. This new accession to the founding treaty of the ICC brings the total number of States Parties to 119.
Statement by Alison Smith, Legal Counsel of No Peace Without Justice:
“No Peace Without Justice (NPWJ) and the Nonviolent Radical Party, Transnational and Transparty (NRPTT) welcome the accession to the Rome Statute by Cape Verde, which shows the commitment of all segments of its society to promote justice and the fight against impunity, in particular for war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide. We applaud the substantial efforts of civil society, parliamentarians, the Government and the media, whose commitment was crucial to move forward the entire process that led today to the achievement of this result
“Cape Verde’s accession to the Rome Statute, which brings to 33 the number of African States Parties, marks an additional step towards universality of the Court’s jurisdiction in the African region and further reinforces the representation of these States in the Assembly of States Parties. This contributes to ensuring African States play an even more active role in sustaining and promoting the work of the Court.
“Now that Cape Verde has ratified the Rome Statute, it must ensure that it has in place appropriate procedures to enable it to cooperate fully with the ICC and to fulfil its complementarity obligations. We look forward to Cape Verde adopting the necessary implementing legislation and ratifying the Agreement on the Privileges and Immunities of the ICC as soon as possible. These critical steps will further solidify its commitment to the victims of crimes under international law and to justice as an integral part of peace.”
For further information, contact Alison Smith on asmith@npwj.org or +32-2-548-3912 or Nicola Giovannini on ngiovannini@npwj.org or +32-2-548-3915
