EU/Seychelles — Statement on the ratification of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal

State­ment by High Rep­re­sen­ta­tive Cather­ine Ash­ton on the rat­i­fi­ca­tion of the Rome Statute of the Inter­na­tion­al Crim­i­nal Court by Sey­chelles
Cather­ine Ash­ton, the High Rep­re­sen­ta­tive of the Union for For­eign Affairs and Secu­ri­ty Pol­i­cy and Vice-Pres­i­dent of the Com­mis­sion made the fol­low­ing state­ment:

‘I am delight­ed to learn that the Repub­lic of Sey­chelles has rat­i­fied the Rome Statute of the Inter­na­tion­al Crim­i­nal Court on August 10 and, I would like to offer my warm con­grat­u­la­tions on this decision.

This rat­i­fi­ca­tion, bring­ing the num­ber of ICC States Par­ties to 112, marks a sig­nif­i­cant step for­ward in the inter­na­tion­al community’s efforts to com­bat impuni­ty. Fol­low­ing the rat­i­fi­ca­tion by Sey­chelles, thir­ty one African coun­tries are now par­ties to the Rome Statute. The ICC rep­re­sents the court of last resort when nation­al courts are unable or unwill­ing to bring jus­tice for geno­cide, crimes against human­i­ty or war crimes. African states have been at the fore­front of estab­lish­ing the ICC and are com­mit­ted to fight­ing impuni­ty under the Con­sti­tu­tive Act of the African Union.

I would like to seize the oppor­tu­ni­ty to reit­er­ate the Euro­pean Union’s com­mit­ment to the uni­ver­sal­i­ty and integri­ty of the Rome Statute and call upon states which have not yet done so to accede to the Rome Statute’. 

Source:
Coun­cil of the Euro­pean Union 

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