The history of human kind has sadly witnessed a continuing cycle of atrocities constituting genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes. In too many cases, these crimes have been committed with impunity, which has only served to encourage others to flout the laws of humanity. An independent and impartial permanent international criminal court was deemed necessary to put an end to impunity and to deter gross violations of human rights and international humanitarian law in the future.

Adopted on July 17, 1998 by an overwhelming majority of 120 states voting in favor, 7 against (including the United States) and 21 abstaining, the Rome Statute is the treaty that establishes the International Criminal Court. The Statute became operational upon the deposit of the 60th ratification on April 11th 2002. As of 1 of June 2008, 106 states from all over the world have joined the Rome Statute, while 41 are pending to ratify the Rome Statute that have already signed. The Dominican Republic became the State Party number 99 in 2005. Regional bodies, in particular the African Union and the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), the European Union, the Organization of American States, have incorporated supporting the ICC into their foreign policy priorities. Lastly, an informal coalition of governments called the “Friends of the ICC” has been created, which includes countries such as Turkey that have not yet joined the ICC but intend to do so in the not too distant future.

While the States adopted created the International Criminal Court (ICC), it was designed to be an independent institution mandated to apply the Rome Statute. Hence, the ICC is the first permanent court capable of investigating and bringing to justice individuals who commit the most serious violations of international humanitarian law, namely war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide. The ICC has jurisdiction only over individuals who commit these crimes after the entry into force of the Rome Statute, on July 1, 2002 for countries party to the Rome Statute at that date and subsequently in other States upon ratification/accession of the Statute by those States, in accordance with the provisions of the Statute itself.  The crime of aggression may also in due course fall under the jurisdiction of the Court, if a definition is agreed upon by the States Parties of the Rome Statute at the Review Conference to be held 2009.

The jurisdiction of the ICC is complementary to national courts, that is to say that the ICC is not a court of first instance or a court of appeals or revisions of decisions adopted by domestic court; its jurisdiction is activated only if domestic courts are unable or unwilling to investigate or prosecute the crimes set out in the Rome Statute.

In addition to numerous procedural safeguards to protect it from possible abuse, the ICC also has strong protections to ensure the independence of the judges and prosecutor, due process, victims’ rights and gender justice under international law.
The ICC only has jurisdiction over crimes committed by nationals or in the territory of the States Parties to the Rome Statute. Although the ICC is now operational, the universality of the Rome Statute remains a priority to ensure that no individual around the world is above the law. Additionally, given that the ICC relies on States to cooperate with it to conduct its investigations and to enforce its decisions, the effectiveness of the ICC depends on States having the necessary legislation to cooperate with the Court. Moreover, given that domestic courts have the primary responsibility to prosecute crimes, States require such legislation to enable their judicial systems to carry out this purpose.

Since the date the Rome Statute entered into force, the Court has assumed jurisdiction in three States Parties that have self-referred their situations to the ICC: Uganda, Democratic Republic of Congo, and Central African Republic. Also, the UN Security Council referred the situation in Darfur, Sudan throughout the Resolution 1593 adopted on 31 March 2005. The public information on the status of this situation is:

• Uganda: In 2005, arrest warrants were issued against 5 leaders of the militia called the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA). The individuals sought by the ICC have not yet been arrested.  One of them has died in combat with the Uganda Army.
  
  
• Democratic Republic of Congo: Between 2006 and 2008, three militia commanders have been arrested and surrendered to the Court. One military commander is still at-large. The first person surrendered from Kinshasa to The Hague has been Mr. Thomas Lubanga (leader of the militia Union of Congolese Patriots -UPC and of the militia Hema. In March of 2007, a Trial Chamber examined the case against Lubanga for the alleged commission of war crimes of recruitment, enlistment and use of child soldiers. This will be the first trial of the ICC.
  
  
• Darfur, Sudan: In February 2007, the Prosecutor of the ICC presented evidence to the Pre-Trial Chamber regarding the situation in Darfur.  In May 2007, arrest warrants were issued for Ali Muhammad Ali Abd-Al-Rahman ("Ali Kushayb"), Janjaweed militia leader, and Ahmad Muhammad Harun ("Ahmad Harun"), the former Minister of State for the Interior of the Government of Sudan.  Both are accused of crimes against humanity and war crimes, including persecution, torture, murder, and rape. In Dec. 2007 and June 2008, the Prosecutor has denounced to the Security Council the non-cooperation of Sudan to surrender these accused individuals.
  
  
• Central African Republic: The ICC opened and investigation in May 2007.  In light of allegations of widespread use of rape, torture and murder against civilians, Mr. Jean-Pierre Bemba, a Senator in the Democratic Republic of Congo and a militia leader, has been arrested by Belgium in May 2008 upon an arrest warrant issued by the Court.