Association of States Parties Meets
The 110 nations who have signed on to the Rome Treaty which established the International Criminal Court have begun meeting in The Hague, Netherlands this week to review operation and functioning of the court.
The various parts of the court, the Registry (Court Administration) the Presidency (the chief judge) and the Office of the Prosecutor will be delivering reports on their activities and plans for the future of the court.
At the moment there is one case in trial, the Thomas Lubanga case from the Democratic Republic of Congo. Mr. Lubanga is accused of using child soldiers in his rebel army. Mr. Lubanga made his first appearance before the court in March of 2006, his trial started January 26, 2009, and is currently in recess. Mr. Lubanga was the first accused to appear before the ICC, and many of the new principles of ICC jurisprudence have been tested in his case, such as the participation of victims and their legal representatives as the case progresses.
Germain Katanga and Matthieu Chui are also rebel leaders from the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Their joint trial is scheduled to begin on November 24, 2009, and they are accused of using child soldiers and a number of other war crimes including rape, murder, pillaging, directing attacks against civilian targets and sexual slavery.
Jean Pierre Gombo of the Central African Republic is awaiting trial and the only other accused who has appeared before the court, Bashir Idriss Abu Garda of Sudan is awaiting the court’s decision on whether or not it will confirm the charges against him and set the case for trial.
