September 27, 1999
Chile's Minister for Foreign Affairs Juan Gabriel Valdes told the Assembly that violations of the basic rights of individuals could no longer be considered as an exclusively domestic problem of countries. The protection of these rights is the inescapable task of the international community, which must move towards a clear, orderly and non-discriminatory regime, such as the proposed International Criminal Court. The establishment of a permanent body equipped to exercise criminal jurisdiction over persons accused of any of the crimes over which it has competence, Foreign Minister Valdes said, will have the virtue of discouraging both improper internal procedures that guarantee the impunity of the perpetrators and the attempts of judges of other countries to transform themselves into righters of the world's wrongs.