17 July 2014
Since June 2010, July 17th has been chosen as the anniversary of the International Justice Day, as stated in art. 12 of Kampala Declaration. The daterepresents the most suitable time to remark the importance and primary need of having an appropriate International juridical system in dealing with crimes such as genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity. The most significant component of this system is the International Criminal Court (2002), the world’s first permanent judicial body competent in bringing perpetrators to justice and providing redress to victims in case of States’ unwillingness or inability.
On the other hand, the anniversary of the adoption of the Rome Statute (1998) shows the hidden side of the Court’s work: the ICC, in fact, represents an incentive for all States to fulfill their primary obligations to prevent, investigate and prosecute the crimes, underlining the importance of domestic courts at national and international level, in the construction of an effective system of International Justice. The States, whether parties or not of the Rome Statute, are the first actors able to fulfill the “never-again” promise, issued on the aftermath of World War II.
Marking 2014’s International Justice Day, the Human Rights Agenda Association and its President Dr. Gűnal Kurşun want to underline the importance and the centrality of the day in the country. Quoting verbatim the words appeared on the Minister of Foreign Affair Ahmet Davutoğlu’s official twitter account in occasion of the commemoration of Srebrenica’s massacre (11.07.2014):
“We will never forget forget Srebrenica and we will not let it be forgotten, even if everybody else does”
“ Taking lessons from the mistakes of the international community in the past, we will continue to work for peace and stability in the Balkans”
the Human Rights Agenda Association-IHGD is asking the Government and all political parties in the Country to show the real will to confront the past of the Turkish State, ratifying the Rome Statute in a time that might be considered as a transition one towards the commemorations of 2015.
In 2015, the whole world will commemorate two of the bloodiest events of the 21st Century:
The Armenian Genocide latu sensu, occurred during the Ottoman Rule towards the non-Muslim population of the Empire in 1915,
The Bosnian Genocide, occurred during the Bosnian War (1992-1995) towards the Muslim community.
Roberto Frifrini,
Member of the Human Rights Agenda Association