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UN / ICC RUSSIA
STORY: UN / ICC RUSSIA
TRT: 02:00
SOURCE: UNIFEED
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 16 NOVEMBER 2016, NEW YORK CITY / FILE
FILE – RECENT, NEW YORK CITY
1. Wide shot, exterior United Nations headquarters
16 NOVEMBER 2016, NEW YORK CITY
2. Wide shot, Farhan Haq at the podium
3. Med shot, journalists
4. SOUNDBITE (English) Farhan Haq, Spokesperson for the Secretary-General:
“You can either be a signatory or a ratifier. Russia, as you just mentioned has not ratified the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court and therefore is not a party to the Statute or the Court. We’ll have to see what kind of communication we receive from Russia and what, if anything, it implies. We haven’t formally received any letter from Russia about this matter so far.”
5. Med shot, journalists
6. SOUNDBITE (English) Farhan Haq, Spokesperson for the Secretary-General:
“The Court is one of the prominent pillars of the system of international law that has been built. It deserves our full support, and he does support it fully and encourages states to support it fully. At the same time, you’ll have seen from the statements he’s issued that he is aware of the concerns that states have put forward about the Court’s work. He believes that the Assembly of States Party, which is happening right now as we speak, is the place to discuss these issues and to address it.”
7. Med shot, journalists
8. SOUNDBITE (English) Farhan Haq, Spokesperson for the Secretary-General:
“It’s important that the more states join up with the Court and work through the Court and its institutions, the Court can be improved. But that’s an improvement that can only really happen through the system that we have of State parties. Being outside the Court doesn’t really help improve the Court and it doesn’t help build support for what has been a valuable and in many ways pioneering effort to hold people around the world responsible for major crimes.”
9. Wide shot, Haq walks away from the podium
Amid reports that the Russian Federation is planning to formally withdraw its signature from the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC), a United Nations (UN) spokesperson today (16 Nov) said the UN has not “formally received any letter from Russia about this matter so far.”
The spokesperson, Farhan Haq, noted that Russia is a signatory to the Statue but not a ratifier and “therefore is not a party to the Statute or the Court.”
Haq said the Court “is one of the prominent pillars of the system of international law that has been built” and “deserves our full support.”
He said Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is aware of state’s concerns about the Court, but “believes that the Assembly of States Party, which is happening right now as we speak, is the place to discuss these issues and to address it.”
Haq said improvements to the Court “can only really happen through the system that we have of State parties” and “being outside the Court doesn’t really help improve the Court and it doesn’t help build support for what has been a valuable and in many ways pioneering effort to hold people around the world responsible for major crimes.”
124 states have ratified or acceded to the Rome Statute. In recent weeks three African countries, South Africa, Burundi and Gambia, have announced plans to withdraw from the Statute.
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