From: TONY LLOYD, M.P.
Labour Member of Parliament for Stretford
HOUSE OF COMMONS
LONDON SWIA OAA
Tel: 0171-219 3488
Constituency Office:
Tel:0161-227 9632
21 November 1996
Dear Danilo Quinto and Olivier Dupuis,
Thank you for your letter to Alun Michael regarding the establishment of an International Criminal Court.
The British Labour Party fully supports the introduction of an International Criminal Court to prosecute individuals charged with crimes against humanity, where internal state justice systems prove unworkable. An International Criminal Court would therefore act as a court of last resort.
The ad hoc courts which were set up as a response to the genocides in Rwanda and in the former Yugoslavia vividly demonstrate the need for a permanent international tribunal to bring to justice those accused of committing large scale human rights violations. The conflicts in Rwanda and Bosnia have made it clear that a process of justice can not only deter war crimes but is necessary to make reconciliation possible between opposing communities.
Labour believes that an International Criminal Court which satisfied the highest standards of fairness and objectivity, with full safeguards for defendants and a clear commitment to judicial impartiality, would significantly contribute towards ending the existing impunity enjoyed by those guilty of gross and systematic human rights violations. It is essential that an International Criminal Court is properly staffed, financed and managed, so that it does not suffer the same difficulties that have plagued the war crimes tribunal in Rwanda and in the former Yugoslavia.
The Labour Party is continuing to urge the British Government to take the lead in the United Nations in ensuring that the timetable for the establishment of a permanent International Criminal Court is kept to. We have pressed for an early date to be set for the diplomatic conference necessary to establish the International Criminal Court. The United Nations Sixth Committee recently agreed that a diplomatic conference should be held 'M June 1998.
Yours sincerely.
TONY LLOYD MP
SHADOW FOREIGN MINISTER
