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	Nelson Mandela was a firm supporter of the ICC and the mechanisms of international justice by UN News, agencies Africa Group for Justice and Accountability (AGJA) South Africa   28 October 2016   Expressing regret over the intention of three African countries to withdraw from the International Criminal Court (ICC), United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called for strengthening the Court from within its processes.   “Deterring future atrocities, delivering justice for victims, and defending the rules of war across the globe are far too important priorities to risk a retreat from the age of accountability that we have worked so hard to build and solidify,” said Mr. Ban.   “The world has made enormous strides in building a global system of international criminal justice, with the International Criminal Court as its centrepiece,” he added, recalling the ground-breaking convictions secured by the ICC and other international tribunals.   In his remarks, the UN chief said that these and other gains have also been accompanied by setbacks and shortcomings such as prosecutions taking many years and not all countries accepting the Court''s jurisdiction.   “Even some of those that do [accept the ICC''s jurisdiction], do not always support the Court fully,” he noted.   He also noted the concern raised that the Court has convicted only Africans despite evidence of crimes in other parts of the world, and stressed that such challenges are best addressed not by diminishing support for the ICC, but by strengthening it from within.   South Africa (24 October) and Burundi (yesterday) have informed the Secretary-General, who is the depository of the Rome Statute of the ICC, of their intent withdraw from the Court.   According to a UN spokesperson, official communication from Gambia – the third country which, according to reports, is intending to withdraw – has not been received.   “I regret these steps, which could send a wrong message on these countries commitment to justice,” said the Secretary-General this morning. According to ICC, the withdrawal will only come into effect one year after the official notification.   24 October 2016   UN Secretary-General hopes South Africa will ‘reconsider’ decision to withdraw from International Criminal Court. (UN News)   United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has regretted the decision of the South African Government to withdraw from the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC) and expressed hope that the country will reconsider its decision before the withdrawal takes effect.   In a statement issued by his office today, the UN chief also recalled the “significant role” played by South Africa in the establishment of the ICC, including as one of the first signatories of the Rome Statute.   According to ICC, the withdrawal will only come into effect one year after notification to the Secretary-General, who is the depositary.   He further expressed his belief that the ICC is central to global efforts to end impunity and prevent conflict as well as his confidence that the UN Member States will continue to further strengthen the Court, thus helping deter future atrocities across the globe.   Further, the statement noted: “The Secretary-General also hopes that States that may have concerns regarding the functioning of the Court seek to resolve these matters in the Assembly of States Parties to the Rome Statute.”   The Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court is the international treaty that founded the Court. Comprising a Preamble and 13 Parts, it establishes the governing framework for the Court.   The Statute sets out the Court’s jurisdiction over genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and – as of an amendment in 2010 – the crime of aggression. In addition to jurisdiction, it also addresses issues such as admissibility and applicable law, the composition and administration of the Court, investigations and prosecution, trials, penalties, appeal and revision, international cooperation and judicial assistance, and enforcement.   The Rome Statute was adopted at the Rome Conference on 17 July 1998 and entered into force on 1 July 2002. http://bit.ly/2f94ntj   Oct 2016   Africa Group for Justice and Accountability: Statement on African state withdrawals from the International Criminal Court   The Africa Group for Justice and Accountability (AGJA) notes with deep concern the continued reports of African states withdrawing from the International Criminal Court (ICC). In recent days, Burundi, South Africa and The Gambia have all signalled their intention to withdraw.   While the AGJA respects the sovereign rights of states to join and withdraw from the ICC, it urges all states to work within the Rome Statute system and continue their support for the Court.   African states have been at the vanguard of international criminal justice, and were indeed critical in ensuring that the ICC became a reality. Their efforts and their commitment are needed more than ever today. The AGJA welcomes the initiative of a growing number of states, including Botswana and Senegal, which have expressed their concern regarding South Africa’s and Burundi’s intention to withdraw from the ICC and have encouraged states to remain committed to the Court.   The AGJA notes that The Gambia has made important contributions to the development of international criminal justice. Fatou Bensouda, the current Prosecutor of the ICC, is a Gambian national. Africa Group member Hassan Bubacar Jallow, formerly Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda and the Residual Mechanism for International Criminal Tribunals, also hails from The Gambia.   The AGJA calls on The Gambia and all other states considering withdrawal to reconsider and recommit themselves to the Rome Statute.   “Withdrawals from the ICC constitute a serious obstacle to the rights of victims to justice and the duty of states to ensure accountability for mass atrocities. They close an important recourse to justice and undermine the global fight against impunity,” said AGJA member Jallow. “All efforts should be deployed to encourage states to remain members of the ICC and resolve their concerns within the Rome Statute system,” he added.   The Africa Group reiterates its view that concerns held by states regarding the ICC should be addressed by the Assembly of States Parties (ASP), where Member States can work together in a co-operative spirit to build a strong, effective and representative Court. The ASP will meet from 16-24 November 2016 in The Hague.   In line with its Kilimanjaro Principles for Justice and Accountability, the AGJA continues to offer its expertise, mediation and facilitation to African states, the African Union, the ICC and all other relevant actors.   * The members of the Africa Group for Justice and Accountability:   Dapo Akande (Nigeria), Professor of Public International Law, University of Oxford; Femi Falana (Nigeria), Human rights activist and lawyer; Hassan Bubacar Jallow (Gambia), Former Prosecutor at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda and International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals; Richard Goldstone (South Africa), Former Chief Prosecutor of the United Nations International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia; Tiyanjana Maluwa (Malawi), H. Laddie Montague Chair in Law, Pennsylvania State University School of Law; Athaliah Molokomme (Botswana), Attorney General of Botswana; Betty Kaari Murungi (Kenya), Independent Consultant on Human Rights and Transitional Justice; Mohamed Chande Othman (Tanzania), Chief Justice of Tanzania; Navi Pillay (South Africa), Former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights; Catherine Samba-Panza (Central African Republic), Former Transitional President of the Central African Republic; Fatiha Serour (Algeria), Director of Serour Associates for Inclusion and Equity; Abdul Tejan-Cole (Sierra Leone), Executive Director of the Open Society Initiative for West Africa   http://www.wayamo.com/africa-group-for-justice-and-accountability/ http://bit.ly/2egfWPX   * South Africa, together with other so-called “like-minded nations” played an important role in encouraging other Southern African states to rectify the Rome Statute. President Nelson Mandela, together with his administration, was a firm supporter of the ICC and more generally on furthering the mechanisms of international justice: http://bit.ly/2dFL48f http://bit.ly/2eO5Jqf Visit the related web page
	Getting Away With Murder by Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ)   2016 Global Impunity Index spotlights countries where journalists are slain and the killers go free.   Some of the highest rates of impunity in the murders of journalists can be attributed to killings by Islamist militant groups, CPJ found in its latest Global Impunity Index, which spotlights countries where journalists are murdered and their killers go free. The worst country for the second year in a row is Somalia, where the militant group al-Shabaab is suspected in the majority of media murders, followed by Iraq and Syria, where members of the militant group Islamic State murdered at least six journalists in the past year.   Extremist groups have also repeatedly targeted journalists with impunity in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Nigeria, and Pakistan, which all appear on the index for at least the second consecutive year.   At the same time, violence perpetrated against journalists by criminal groups and local officials allowed impunity to tighten its grip in Latin America, with Brazil and Mexico each moving two spots higher on the index this year.   Sri Lanka, where violence against journalists has receded since the end of a decades-long civil war, dropped off the list for the first time since CPJ began calculating the index in 2008.   The Impunity Index, published annually to mark the International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists on November 2, calculates the number of unsolved murders over a 10-year period as a percentage of each country''s population.   For this edition, CPJ analyzed journalist murders in every nation that took place between September 1, 2006 and August 31, 2016. Only those nations with five or more unsolved cases for this period are included on the index-a threshold that 13 countries met this year, compared with 14 last year. Cases are considered unsolved when no convictions have been obtained; cases in which some but not all perpetrators are held to justice are classified as partial impunity and are not included in the tally. Cases in which the murder suspects are killed during apprehension are also classified as partial impunity.   While militant extremists are responsible for the greatest numbers of attacks against journalists in recent years, they are not the only ones getting away with murder, nor are conflict zones the only place where impunity thrives.   The Philippines is No. 4 on the index, its place cemented by a failure to prosecute any perpetrators behind the 2009 massacre in Maguindanao, in which 32 journalists and media workers were slain. Aside from the Philippines, Mexico, and Brazil, criminal groups and government officials are also leading suspects in murders of journalists in Russia and India. Each of those countries except Brazil has appeared on the index since its inception.   CPJ recorded only four unsolved murders in Sri Lanka for the latest 10-year period, leading to its elimination from the index. Amid the country''s becalmed political climate, no journalist there has been murdered in direct connection to journalism since editor Lasantha Wickramatunga was killed in 2009. Justice has not been achieved in any murder-despite a pledge from President Maithripala Sirisena to re-investigate old killings-but Wickramatunga''s case inched forward this year with one arrest and the exhumation of the editor''s body for a new post-mortem examination.   Impunity is widely recognized as one of the greatest threats to press freedom, and international pressure to address it has mounted in recent years, with states, including some of the repeat offenders on this list, beginning to respond.   Six countries on the index-Bangladesh, Brazil, Pakistan, the Philippines, Russia, and Somalia-convicted perpetrators of journalist killings in the past year, up from three countries in the previous year''s report.   In another positive development, more countries on this year''s index participated in UNESCO''s impunity accountability mechanism, which requests information on the status of investigations into killed journalists for the U.N. agency''s biennial report on journalist safety. In previous years, half of the countries on the index ignored this process. This year, only three states among the 13 index countries-India, South Sudan, and Syria- failed to respond.   Among the other findings from CPJ''s data on murdered journalists:   The combined data from the 13 countries on the index account for 80 percent of the unsolved murders that took place worldwide during the 10-year period ending August 31, 2016.   Eight of the 13 countries on the Impunity Index have been listed each year since CPJ began the annual analysis in 2008, an indication of how entrenched impunity is in some nations.   Despite their poor records in achieving justice, four countries on the Impunity Index-India, Mexico, Nigeria, and the Philippines-are on the governing council of the Community of Democracies, a coalition dedicated to upholding and strengthening democratic norms.   In the past decade political groups, including ISIL/Daesh and other extremist organizations, are the suspected perpetrators in more than 40 percent of murder cases. Government and military officials are considered the leading suspects in nearly a quarter of the cases in the same period.   Around 95 percent of victims were local reporters. More of them covered politics and corruption in their home countries than any other beat.   In at least 40 percent of cases, the victims reported receiving threats before they were killed. Threats are rarely investigated by authorities and in only a handful of cases is adequate protection provided.   In the past 10 years, around 30 percent of murdered journalists were first taken captive, the majority of whom were tortured, amplifying the killers message of intimidation to the media community.   In only 3 percent of total murder cases over the decade has full justice, including the prosecution of the masterminds, been achieved.   * Access the full report via the link below, see also Reporters without Borders 2016 World Press Freedom Index: http://rsf.org/en/ranking http://bit.ly/2eBLHO7 http://bit.ly/2fdgmVD http://cpj.org/imprisoned/2016.php http://cpj.org/news/ Visit the related web page
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