WORLDWIDE PARLIAMENTARY APPEAL FOR THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE PERMANENT INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT TO

THE UNITED NATIONS GENERAL SECRETARY

THE PRESIDENT OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY

THE MEMBERS STATES

We, the undersigned, Parliamentarians from around the world,

- considering the rising number of war crimes and crimes against humanity being perpetrated throughout the world and which remain unpunished;

- considering that an ever-broadening public opinion is realizing the necessity that the perpetrators of these crimes be brought to justice;

- considering the necessity and urgency to create a rigorously objective and impartial international justice system for the arbitration of, above all, war crimes and crimes against humanity regardless of their origin;

- underlining the significant progress made in this area by the creation of ad hoc international tribunals on former Yugoslavia and Ruanda

- pleased that already capital punishment is not contemplated in the Statutes of the ad hoc tribunals nor in the project of the Statute of the Permanent Court;

- considering that during the 50th session (Autumn 1995) of the United Nations General Assembly, it was formally decided that a Preparatory Committee would take on the responsibility of finalizing the Statute of the International Tribunal, so that, the United Nations may convene the Founding Conference of the Permanent International Criminal Court;

- Considering that the Preparatory Committee closed its last session on August 30 last asking the UN General Assembly to convene the Founding Conference by the end of 1998;

- considering that in spite of these positive results, obtained in the first place due to the determination of numerous EU Member States, strong opposition still remains from certain countries as well as from two EU Member States, and is it more than ever urgent to eliminate this, to ensure the definite consolidation of an international criminal jurisdiction;

- considering that the Italian government has already offered its willingness and availability to host the Tribunal's founding plenipotentiary conference;

LAUNCH A SOLEMN APPEAL

because, barring any obstacles, the UN General Assembly during its 51st session, renew the mandate of the Preparatory Committee and takes the decision to convene a founding plenipotentiaryConference for the institution of International Criminal Court by the end of 1998.

FIRST NAME LAST NAME POSITION ORGANIZATION SIGNATURE

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