NO EXCUSES NO ALIBIS

THE INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT MUST BE ESTABLISHED ON JULY 17, 1998!

Only 7 days remain before the end of the Diplomatic Conference that started in Rome on June 15. Only 168 hours to achieve the establishment of an International Criminal Court to try War Crimes, Genocide and Crimes against Humanity. While key issues still remain unresolved, solutions are possible. It is only a question of political will.

50 years have passed since the Nuremberg Trial; in these 50 years the world has witnessed 250 conflicts with over 200 million deaths. Now, after years of preparation, it is clearly time to decide.

We can no longer avoid or postpone decision making.

Objections and reservations can and must be overcome. On the most important and controversial issues - from the relationship between the Court and the UN Security Council to the powers of the Prosecutor, from the relationship between national and international jurisdictions to the financing of the Court - there are solutions that can be quickly refined. On these issues, which take into consideration several countries positions and which do not hinder the establishment nor the effectiveness of the Court, it is possible to gather a wide consensus.

Today, it is not only necessary, but also possible to finally equip the international community with an essential tool to establish a universal criminal jurisdiction, to create a Tribunal able to act in an independent way to prosecute the most egregious crimes and put an end to impunity insuring, at the same time, the appropriate safeguards for the accused, beginning with the exclusion of the death penalty.

At this juncture the world public opinion, men and women of goodwill will not understand any further delays or boycotting.

We ask you to keep your word:

Bill Clinton before the 1997 UN General Assembly
New York, September 22, 1997

... and to punish those responsible for crimes against humanity and to promote justice so that peace endures we must maintain our strong support for the U.N.'s war crime tribunals and truth commissions. Before the century ends, we should establish a permanent international court to prosecute the most serious violations of humanitarian law ...