Resolution on the International Criminal Court ICC

The European Parliament adopted a resolution on the International Criminal Court (ICC). The current worldwide pressure being exerted by the United States to persuade signatories to the Rome Statute to enter into bilateral immunity agreements which seek, through misuse of its article 98, to prevent US nationals from being surrendered to the ICC, should not succeed with any country. No immunity agreement should ever afford the possibility of impunity for any individual accused of war crimes or genocide. Parties to the Rome Statute are obliged to cooperate fully with the ICC, thus preventing them from entering into immunity agreements. The governments of the Member States, the candidate countries and other signatories must not adopt any agreement which undermines the effective implementation of the Rome Statute. Parliament underlined the heavy US involvement in peacekeeping operations and considers that the credibility of the EU position vis-α-vis the US could be strengthened by accepting a proportionate contribution to peacekeeping operations. The EU should also reinforce dialogue with the US, inside and outside the Transatlantic Dialogue, with the purpose of persuading its government to change its attitude towards the ICC. Finally, Parliament called for strong action against UN Security Council Resolution 1422. This concerns UN actions, whereby the ICC will not bring an action against any personnel from a contributing State which is not a party to the Rome Statute for 12 months, renewable each 1 July.�