ICC judges hold roundtable meeting with United Nations Special Representative for Sexual Violence in Conflict.
The United Nations Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Sexual Violence in Conflict, Ms Zainab Bangura, visited the International Criminal Court (ICC) at the invitation of the President of the Court, Judge Silvia Fernández de Gurmendi, to participate in a roundtable meeting with the judges of the Court yesterday May 13.
During the meeting, which built on earlier contacts between President Fernández and Ms Bangura, the judges of the Court and the Special Representative discussed areas of common interest in the two institutions’ mandates aimed at ending impunity for mass crimes of sexual and gender-based violence.
“Ensuring accountability for sexual and gender-based violence and providing justice to the victims of such crimes is an integral aspect of the ICC’s mandate,” said President Fernández. “I am truly delighted for this opportunity to discuss the many synergies between the important work conducted by Ms Bangura and her office on the one hand and the ICC on the other hand. Ending conflict-related sexual violence is a vitally important objective for the global community, and the ICC is deeply committed to working together with the United Nations and other relevant actors toward that end.”
“The International Criminal Court is a vital tool in the fight against impunity for crimes of sexual violence,” said Special Representative Bangura. “It is essential for my mandate to engage with the Court to discuss the pressing challenges that we face together, including evidentiary issues, victims and witness protection, and reparations. I am incredibly grateful for the President of the Court’s invitation and for the judges’ strong engagement in the roundtable discussion.”
During her visit to the ICC, Ms Bangura also met with officials of the Court’s Office of the Prosecutor and Registry, as well as the Trust Fund for Victims associated with the ICC. She also briefed a meeting of the Hague Working Group of the Assembly of States Parties to the Rome Statute on her mandate and activities. In her remarks to the various stakeholders of the ICC, Ms Bangura underlined the Court’s key role in ensuring accountability for sexual and gender-based crimes and breaking the culture of denial about sexual violence in conflict.
