MINISTER FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS

31 October, 1996

Mr. Danilo Quinto and Mr. Olivier Dupuis

Radical Party Centre de coordination de Bruxelles

97-113 Rue Belliard 1047 Bryssel

Dear Mr. Quinto and Mr. Dupuis,

Thank you for your letter of 10 October 1996 to the Swedish Government concerning the establishment of a permanent international criminal court.

As you may be aware, Sweden is one of the main proponents of this project. This is evidenced by our very active participation in the Preparatory Committee where, i.a., we chaired one of the informal working groups. We have also sponsored the NGO Coalition working in favour of the court. In his recent statement in the general debate of the on-going session of the General Assembly of the United Nations, the Swedish Prime Minister stated the following:

"The UN represents the moral authority of the world community. it has a vital role to see to it that war-crimes do not pass unpunished. The tribunals for former Yugoslavia and Rwanda should be given the necessary support. The message must be clear. Civilians must be protected in all armed conflicts, whether internal or international. It should never be possible to live out criminal perversions, to murder, torture or rape with impunity. A permanent international criminal court should be established in the very near future."

in line with this position, our delegation to the General Assembly will press very hard this autumn for a decision to be taken now, to convene a diplomatic conference in 1998 for the consideration and adoption of the court's statute. We believe that such a decision is vital in order to maintain momentum in the further preparatory meetings to be held in the course of 1997. Needless to say, we intend to work actively in those meetings in favour of a really effective court.

Yours sincerely,

Lena Hjelm-Wallén