Draft resolution submitted by the Inter-Parliamentary Group of SWITZERLAND for the 171st session of the Council of the Inter-Parliamentary Union

Parliamentary action in support of the establishment of an efficient International Criminal Court whose rules are universally and comprehensively applicable

The Council of the Inter-Parliamentary Union,

  1. Recalling the resolution adopted by the 105th Inter-Parliamentary Conference (Havana, April 2001), operative paragraph 6 of which urged all States to consider, if they had not yet done so, acceding to and/or ratifying the Rome Statute establishing the International Criminal Court and recalled that, in establishing the crimes falling within the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court, the latter's Statute defines rape, sexual slavery, enforced prostitution, forced pregnancy, enforced sterilization, or any other form of sexual violence both as war crimes and, when committed as part of a widespread or systematic attack directed against any civilian population, as crimes against humanity,
  2. Noting that the number of States which have ratified and acceded to the Rome Statute has risen from 30 in April 2001 to some 80 at present, while emphasising that more than 100 States have not yet acceded to the instrument,
  3. Mindful of the fact that the States party to the Rome Statute must ensure that the conditions required for the effective functioning of the International Criminal Court are fulfilled at all times,
  4. Emphasising that the Court does not violate the rights of non-party States,
  5. Warning of a proliferation of immunities and exclusion clauses, allegedly grounded in Article 98 of the Statute (Cooperation with regard to waiver of immunity and consent to surrender) which could undermine the functioning of the court,
  6. Welcoming the first meeting of the Assembly of States party held recently in New York, from 3 to 10 September 2002,
  7. Invites

    1. To take action to ensure that the terms of paragraph 6 of the above-mentioned resolution are put into effect;
    2. To see to it that governments refrain from concluding special agreements with non-party States exempting their citizens from any obligation to appear before the ICC, as this would have the effect of weakening this international court.