March 30, 2011
NEW HAVEN, CONNECTICUT – Adopted on July 17, 1988 by 120 countries during a conference in Rome, the Rome Statute established the International Criminal Court (ICC), the first permanent international criminal court. The Statute entered into force on July 1, 2002, after 60 countries ratified it; 114 countries are currently party to the Statute. The Rome Statute is binding only on countries that formally express their consent to be bound by its provisions. Although the Islamic Republic of Iran was reportedly instrumental in the creation of the Statute, it is not a party to the Statute.
IHRDC today publishes a Persian translation of the first three parts of the Statute; translation of the remainder of the Statute will be published in the coming months. “We hope to promote an informed dialogue about the ICC among Iranian scholars, public officials and the general public,” explains Renee Redman, IHRDC Executive Director. “We also urge the Islamic Republic to ratify the Rome Statute and join the international effort to, as explained in the Preamble: ‘put an end to impunity for the perpetrators of these crimes.’”
Prior to the establishment of the ICC, the international community had created several temporary criminal tribunals, including the Nuremberg and Japan Tribunals after World War II, and the International Criminal Tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda. The Rome Statute heralded the creation of a permanent court to act as a court of last resort when national criminal justice systems are unwilling or unable to act. The Court is located in The Hague and is not part of the United Nation system.
The Rome Statute provides that the ICC may exercise jurisdiction over crimes of genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, apartheid and torture. The Court may also exercise jurisdiction over crimes of aggression should a definition of that crime be adopted by the United Nations. to the prosecutor, irrespective of the nationality of the accused or the location of the crime. However, the Court will not consider events that occurred before July 1, 2002 under any circumstances.
IHRDC is a non-profit organization based in New Haven, Connecticut. Its staff of human rights lawyers and researchers produce reports on the human rights situation in Iran. The Center’s goal is to encourage an informed dialogue among scholars and the general public in both Iran and abroad. The human rights reports and a database of documents relating to human rights in Iran are available to the public for research and educational purposes on the Center’s website. www.iranhrdc.org.