International Criminal Court Conference Starts
September 6, 2004
Some 80 of the 94 state parties which ratified the court's founding treaty have registered to attend the ICC's third assembly. Top of the agenda will be the 2005 budget, with distribution of funds expected to be a main focus of debate.
Based in The Hague, the ICC became a legal reality in 2002, mandated to try genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity committed after the court was established, in cases where the accused's national state cannot or will not act.
First cases: Uganda and Congo
As the court moves into an operational phase with the launch of its two first investigations into alleged war crimes in northern Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo, next year's budget is a critical issue.
Chief prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo began the two official probes by sending teams of ICC investigators to the two regions to interview witnesses and survivors and gather evidence.
The assembly has proposed a budget of €70 million for 2005, compared to €61 million in 2003.
A "woefully inadequate" budget
Human rights groups say this falls considerably short of the funds needed.
The Coalition for the International Criminal Court (CICC), an umbrella organization of some 2000 human rights organizations, is arguing that the proposed budget fails to provide adequately for the first two investigations, ensure the necessary protection of witnesses or allow victims to participate in the legal procedures.
"It is woefully inadequate to meet the responsibilities of this court as set out in its statute," said Richard Dicker, director of the International Justice Program at Human Rights Watch.
US goes its own way
Conspicuously absent from proceedings is the US, still firmly opposed to the court.
While Germany and France are the ICC's main advocates, other countries reluctant to get on board include Russia, China, India, Pakistan and Iraq.
The Bush administration's unrelenting resistance to the ICC is based on the claim it interferes with global peacekeeping obligations.
To undermine its jurisdiction, the US has already signed bilateral agreements with a number of countries guaranteeing that US soldiers cannot be extradited to The Hague if they are prosecuted for genocide, crimes against humanity or war crimes.