On 15 February 2013, the President of the Assembly of States Parties to the Rome Statute (“the Assembly”), Ambassador Tiina Intelmann (Estonia) welcomed the deposit of the instrument of ratification of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court by the Permanent Representative of Côte d’Ivoire to the United Nations, H.E. Mr. Youssoufou Bamba. Côte d’Ivoire was one of the first States to sign the Rome Statute, on 30 November 1998, and became the 122nd State Party to ratify the Rome Statute. The President noted that this was evidence of the increased support for the International Criminal Court and a welcome step towards universality of the Rome Statute.
Ambassador Intelmann stated that the ratification was a further indication of the positive spirit of cooperation which Côte d’Ivoire has demonstrated towards the International Criminal Court, and recalled in this regard that Côte d’Ivoire had, on 18 April 2003, filed a Declaration pursuant to article 12, paragraph 3 of the Rome Statute, by which it recognized the jurisdiction of the Court. It had, further, on 14 December 2010, confirmed this declaration and committed to cooperating fully with the Court, in particular in relation to the crimes committed since March 2004.
“I congratulate Côte d’Ivoire on this significant step and welcome it as the newest addition to the Rome Statue family. I am looking forward to the continued cooperation and good relations of Côte d’Ivoire with the International Criminal Court. This most recent ratification brings to 34 the number of States Parties in Africa, which is a sign of growing acknowledgement of the role of ICC in the global fight against impunity for the gravest international crimes,”, stated Intelmann speaking in New York.