The mechanisms of justice must act now, raise their voices now, or remain silent forever
Dear members of the International Criminal Court, dear judges of the Court, dear Karim Khan, Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, dear all members of the Court.
On this day, which marks the 25th anniversary of the establishment of the Court, I would like to congratulate the Court’s judges, its Prosecutor, its staff, and its supporters from the independent human rights movement around the world, and I congratulate you as one of those working in the field of human rights and in the field of the most serious crimes, war crimes and crimes against humanity, and as one of the believers in the values and system of human rights, justice, and its universality, and as one of the believers, as well, in the International Criminal Court and its supporters, since its establishment, as the last hoped-for opportunity to achieve international justice, to protect human rights, and to enforce international law, in a normative, comprehensive and just manner, without any discrimination or selectivity
Today, as we celebrate the 25th anniversary of the founding of the Court, it is crucial to remember that the Court’s reputation, credibility, integrity, independence, merit, and value are at stake, more than ever before, as the current round of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict is not only a new challenge facing us. The court is also an opportunity for the idea of justice, the rule of international law, and the idea of universal values and the human rights system. It is, before and after all of that, a precise testing station for the International Criminal Court, its mandate, the Rome Statute, its normativity, principle, morality, and consistency. It is necessary, and hoped, for the court to undergo this test immediately, boldly, and effectively, for the sake of justice, for the sake of truth, for the sake of international humanitarian law, for the sake of defeating the most serious crimes committed against defenseless civilians, and for the sake of holding those involved in them accountable, and for the sake of In order to present a third voice, one that complies with the logic of international law, the values of human rights, the logic of justice, and the Charter of the United Nations and its charters, as frameworks and determinants guaranteeing coexistence, peace, and civilization, against the voices and narratives of the parties to the war, and their immoral, uncivilized, and inhumane alignments and alliances.
Perhaps it is worth mentioning, herewith this telegram, that the State of Palestine, a state party to the Rome Statute, and falling within the jurisdiction of the Court, since April 1, 2015, is a rare thing in our region, the Middle East region, like our brothers in humanity, in suffering, war crimes and crimes against humanity in Ukraine
Dears at the International Criminal Court
What we must realize at this extremely sensitive moral station is that the mechanisms of justice must act now, raise their voices now, or be silent forever.
Best Regards
Abdulrasheed Alfaqih
Co-founder of Mwatana for Human Rights
Vice-chairperson of the organization
Yemen
Sana’a
18 October2023
