The Review Conference of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC) will be opened on Monday, 31 May, 2010 at 10 a.m. at the Munyonyo Commonwealth Resort in Kampala, Uganda. The Conference that will last until 11 June represents the first opportunity to consider amendments to the Rome Statute and to take stock of its implementation and impact since it entered into force in 2002. Around 2000 representatives of States, non-governmental organizations and intergovernmental organizations will participate.
The Conference will be opened by the President of the Assembly of the States Parties, Ambassador Christian Wenaweser, the United Nations Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon and the ICC President Judge Sang-Hyun Song. Statements will be also made by the ICC Prosecutor, Luis Moreno-Ocampo, the former United Nations Secretary-General, Kofi Annan and the President of Uganda, Yoweri Kaguta Museveni.
During the Conference various issues will be considered. As part of proposed amendments of the Rome Statute, discussions will focus on the definition of the crime of aggression, amongst others.
Moreover, the Conference will include a stocktaking exercise during which the overall success and impact of the Rome Statute will be considered in relation to four topics: complementarity, cooperation, the impact of the Rome Statute system on victims and affected communities and peace and justice.
Besides a general debate of high-level representatives of States Parties to the Rome Statute, a series of panel discussions and a number of side events are scheduled. Civil society will hold numerous side-events at the “People’s Space” or Lake Side Garden, of the Munyonyo Commonwealth Resort.
Additionally, representatives of the 111 States Parties to the Rome Statute, as well as observers of other States, the United Nations, and civil society groups will have the opportunity to reaffirm their commitments to combat impunity for the most serious crimes of concern to the international community as a whole.
Link to the website of the Review Conference:
http://www.kampala.icc-cpi.info/
Newsletter #4 (English) :
For further information please contact Ms. Bettina Ambach, Public Information Officer, Secretariat of the Assembly of States Parties at + 256 787 700 942 or at [email protected].