1 July 2007: Fifth Anniversary of Rome Statue's Entry Into Force By Anaga Dalal

What: 1 July 2007 will mark the fifth anniversary of the entry into force of the Rome Statute, the founding treaty of the International Criminal Court (ICC). The treaty entered into force following the 60^th ratification of the statute on 11 April 2002. Currently, 104 countries have acceded to or ratified the statue and 139 states have signed it. The Court is currently investigating grave crimes in four countries: Northern Uganda, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Sudan (Darfur) and most recently, the Central African Republic . Later this year, the Court is expected to begin its first trial in the DRC child soldiers case against Thomas Lubanga Dyilo.

Why: After World War II, the world cried “never again,” but it was only five years ago when the Rome Statute officially entered into force that the international community actually took a step forward on the path to ending impunity for the gravest of crimes. The entry into force of the Rome Statute marks the first time that a truly international and permanent court, reflecting major legal systems and all geographic regions of the world, would hold individuals accountable for massive crimes.

The last century has been the bloodiest in human history with hundreds of millions of casualties of mass rape, forced expulsion, disappearances, torture, slavery and other assaults on human dignity. A permanent deterrent to these crimes was created on 1 July 2002 when the jurisdiction of the ICC began. The ICC is the first permanent and independent international judicial institution capable of trying individuals accused of the most serious violations of international humanitarian and human rights law, including the crimes of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity.

How: For further information about the fifth anniversary of the Rome Statute’s entry into force, please contact Anaga Dalal, Head of Information and Communications at the Coalition for the International Criminal Court through the contact details listed above. To learn more about the history of the Court, please visit us online at http://www.iccnow.org/?mod=icchistory.

Mr. William Pace, Convenor, Coalition for the International Criminal Court ( New York , USA )

Tel: +1 212 687 2863

E-mail: pace@wfm-igp.org

Mr. Richard Dicker, Director, International Justice Program, Human Rights Watch ( New York , USA )

Mobile tel: +1 917 747 6731

Email: dickerr@hrw.org

Mr. Christopher Hall, Senior Legal Adviser, Amnesty International ( London , UK )
Tel.: +44 207 241 1728
E-mail: chall@amnesty.org

Mr. Hugo Relva, Legal Adviser, International Justice Project, Amnesty International ( London , UK )

( London , UK )

Tel: + 54.221 473 25 38

Mobile tel: +54 9 221 538 42 85

E-mail: hrelva@amnesty.org

Ms. Alison Smith, Legal Counsel, No Peace Without Justice ( Brussels , Belgium )

Mobile tel: +32 486 986 235

Email: alison@sensible.it

Dr. David Donat Cattin, Director of Programmes, Parliamentarians for Global Action ( New York , USA )

Mobile phone: +1 212 687 7755 x105

Email: donat@pgaction.org

Ms. Betsy Apple, Director, Crimes Against Humanity Program, Human Rights First ( New York , USA )

Tel: +1 212 845 5243

Email: AppleB@HumanRightsFirst.org

Mr. John Stompor, Senior Associate, Human Rights First ( New York , USA )

Tel: +1 212 845 5247

Email: stomporj@HumanRightsFirst.org

Mr. John Washburn, Convener, American NGO Coalition for the ICC ( New York , USA )

Tel: +1 212 907 1317;

Email: jwashburn@unausa.org

Dr. Karine Bonneau, Director of the International Justice Desk, Fédération Internationale des Ligues des Droits de L’Homme (FIDH - International Federation for Human Rights) (Paris, France)

Tel: +33 1 43 55 11 56

Mobile tel: +33 6 72 34 87 59

Email: kbonneau@fidh.org

The Coalition for the International Criminal Court (CICC) is an international network of more than 2,000 orgranizations advocating for a fair, effective and independent ICC. For more information, visit us online at www.iccnow.org.