A new step toward a New Kazakhstan

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A new step toward a New Kazakhstan

By H.E. Mr Askar Zhumagaliyev, Ambassador of the Republic of Kazakhstan to the Kingdom of the Netherlands.

The significant changes taking place in Kazakhstanā€™s domestic politics are ongoing at a high pace. The constitutional amendments, which were implemented following a nationwide referendum held in June 2022, paved the way for new democratic principles in our country, including increased influence of Parliament, limited presidential powers, simplified registration procedures for new political parties, direct election of rural akims (governors), and other important measures.

On March 19 another pivotal event in the transformation of our country’s modern history. Upcoming Mazhilis (the lower house of parliament) and maslikhats (local representative bodies) elections will be unique in many respects. Firstly, two recently established political parties will participate in the vote. For instance, towards the end of last year, the Green Party was established in Kazakhstan, which will raise awareness of ecological issues ā€“ an area that is of vital importance due to the ongoing climate change challenges, and of great concern to our citizens due to enduring consequences of large scale Soviet-era man-made environmental calamities.

Overall, seven parties are now registered in the country offering a plethora of political choice for the electorate. Their participation in competitive elections will further contribute to strengthening a multi-party system by increasing plurality and influence of opposition politics, an objective which our country has been working towards for the past several years. Significantly, the threshold for parties to enter the Mazhilis has been reduced from 7 to 5%, making it easier for opposition parties to enter parliament and play an important role in increasing government accountability.

Secondly, a mixed proportional-majoritarian model will be used for the first time for the election to the Mazhilis since 2004, where 70% of deputies will be elected proportionally from party lists, and 30% by majoritarian rule from single-member districts. This means that 29 out of 98 members of parliament will be elected in single-mandate constituencies, while 69 will be elected from party lists under the proportional representation model from a single nationwide constituency. The elections to the maslikhats of districts and cities of national importance will also be held under a mixed electoral system, with a 50/50 ratio, while lower level maslikhats will be elected completely under a majoritarian rule.

In addition, an ā€œagainst allā€ option will be included on the ballots, which will give the electorate the opportunity to express their disapproval of all candidates should they wish to do so. Finally, a 30% quota for women, youth, and persons with special needs has been established at the legislative level in the distribution of the mandates of the members of parliament from the party lists. This ensures wider representation in parliament of all groups in Kazakhstan.

Our country has always shown its commitment to holding free, open, and fair elections. The role of election monitors is undoubtedly crucial in this regard. As with previous elections, including the presidential election in November 2022, we have invited 10 international organizations and scores of observers from foreign nations to observe the election. We expect the largest election observation missions from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) and the Commonwealth of Independent States.

The upcoming elections will mark another important milestone in the development of Kazakhstanā€™s democracy. Many were unsure whether our country would recover after the unrest in January 2022. Yet we have managed to overcome this hurdle. In addition to demonstrating our resilience and stability, we have transformed our country through significant political and socio-economic initiatives.

The elections will not change our country overnight, but they will further contribute to the creation of a Just Kazakhstan ā€“ a prosperous society, and a more vibrant, dynamic and competitive political system. Such a country will be an even stronger and more committed partner for cooperation for the international community, including the Netherlands.

As the world continues to navigate current geopolitical and economic challenges, a stable and thriving Kazakhstan is to the benefit of not just our own citizens, but to the whole region and beyond. Our political reforms, supported by competitive elections, is the foundation on which we will ensure our stability and continue to build our future.

ICC judges issue arrest warrant for Vladimir Putin over alleged war crimes

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<strong>ICC judges issue arrest warrant for Vladimir Putin over alleged war crimes</strong>

The GuardianĀ (17.03.2023) – TheĀ international criminal courtĀ (ICC) in The Hague has issued an arrest warrant for Vladimir Putin for overseeing the abduction of Ukrainian children, sending Russia another significant step on the path to becoming a pariah state.

In granting the request for warrants by the ICC prosecutor, a panel of judges agreed that there were ā€œreasonable groundsā€ to believe Putin and his childrenā€™s rights commissioner, Maria Alekseyevna Lvova-Belova, bore responsibility for the ā€œunlawful deportationā€ of Ukrainian children.

The warrants are the first to be issued by the ICC for crimes committed in the Ukraine war, and it is one of the rare occasions when the court has issued a warrant for a sitting head of state, putting Putin in the company of the Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi and the Sudanese president Omar al-Bashir.

Gaddafi was toppled and killed months after his warrant was announced. Bashir was also ousted and is currently in jail in Sudan, though he has yet to be transferred to The Hague. Putin is likely to evade justice in the near future: Russia does not recognise the courtā€™s jurisdiction, and insisted on Friday it was not affected by the warrants. But the Russian leader will face limits on his freedom of travel to the ICCā€™s 123 member states, further deepening his isolation.

In deciding to issue the warrants, the ICC pre-trial chamber of judges considered keeping the warrants secret but decided that making them public could ā€œcontribute to the prevention of the further commission of crimesā€.

It is unclear how many children have been taken from Ukraine by Russian forces. Last month, the Yale Humanitarian Research Lab published a report alleging that at least 6,000 children from Ukraine had been sent to Russian ā€œre-educationā€ camps in the past year. In a statement on Friday, the ICC prosecutor, Karim Khan, said: ā€œIncidents identified by my office include the deportation of at least hundreds of children taken from orphanages and childrenā€™s care homes.ā€

Khan said many of the children had been put up for adoption in Russia and that Putin had issued a decree expediting the conferral of Russian citizenship on the children, making them easier to adopt.

ā€œMy office alleges that these acts, amongst others, demonstrate an intention to permanently remove these children from their own country,ā€ Khan said. ā€œWe must ensure that those responsible for alleged crimes are held accountable and that children are returned to their families and communities ā€¦ We cannot allow children to be treated as if they are the spoils of war.ā€

ā€œThere are reasonable grounds to believe that Mr Putin bears individual criminal responsibility for the aforementioned crimes,ā€ the ICC judgesā€™ statement said, adding that he both committed the acts directly and failed to stop others from doing so.

The Kremlin was defiant in the face of the ICC announcement.

ā€œThe decisions of the international criminal court have no meaning for our country, including from a legal point of view,ā€ the foreign ministry spokeswoman, Maria Zakharova, said on her Telegram channel. ā€œRussia is not a party to the Rome statute of the international criminal court and bears no obligations under it.ā€

Lvova-Belova told Russian media that the arrest warrant reflected ā€œappreciationā€ for her work ā€œto help the children of our country, that we donā€™t leave them in the war zone, that we take them outā€.

Ukraineā€™s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, estimated the number of deported children at far more than 16,000 and said the warrants represented ā€œan historic decision which will lead to historic accountability.

ā€œIt would have been impossible to enact such a criminal operation without the say-so of the man at the helm of the terrorist state,ā€ Zelenskiy said.

Wayne Jordash, a Kyiv-based international human rights lawyer and managing partner of Global Rights Compliance, said that the warrants for Putin and Lvova-Belova were likely to be the first of many.

ā€œMore will come over the next few months. This has got to be a sort of warning shot across the bow,ā€ Jordash said.

The Russian leadership has been overt about its taking Ukrainian children to Russia and placing them in camps or putting them up for adoption by Russian families. On 16 February, Lvova-Belova appeared on television telling Putin about the programme and thanking him for being able to ā€œadoptā€ a 15-year-old boy from Mariupol, the south-eastern Ukrainian city that was devastated and occupied by Russian forces.

ā€œThanks to you, now I know what itā€™s like to be a mom of a Donbas child,ā€ she told Putin.

ā€œThereā€™s a clear case here against Putin,ā€ Jordash said. So I think itā€™s good to see the prosecutor focusing on childrenā€™s rights. I think this is what international prosecutors have failed to do over the last 20 years, so this is a good focus, as itā€™s one of the worst crimes being committed.ā€

The warrant for Putinā€™s arrest was welcomed by Josep Borrell, the EU foreign policy chief, who called it ā€œthe start of the process of accountabilityā€ and by the UKā€™s foreign secretary, James Cleverly, who said ā€œthose responsible for horrific war crimes in Ukraine must be brought to justiceā€.

The US was more guarded in its response. Joe Biden said that Putin had clearly committed war crimes and the ICCā€™s decision was justified. But the US is not an ICC member, and the Pentagon has resisted cooperation with the ICC out of fear that US soldiers could potentially be pursued by the court.

ā€œThere is no doubt that Russia is committing war crimes and atrocities in Ukraine, and we have been clear that those responsible must be held accountable,ā€ Adrienne Watson, the national security council spokeswoman said. ā€œThe ICC prosecutor is an independent actor and makes his own prosecutorial decisions based on the evidence before him. We support accountability for perpetrators of war crimes.ā€

Reed Brody, a veteran war crimes prosecutor and author of To Catch a Dictator, a book about the pursuit of Chadian leader, HissĆØne HabrĆ©, said the warrant ā€œmakes Putinā€™s world a smaller placeā€.

ā€œI donā€™t think we were expecting to see him travel to France or Ukraine anytime soon, but heā€™s got to be careful,ā€ Brody said. ā€œObviously, these are crimes that never go away. They will hang over his head forever and making them go away is very hard. Weā€™ve seen time and again that the wheels of international justice grind slowly, but they grind exceedingly fine.ā€

Photo credits: Video / The Guardian

ICC judges issue arrest warrants against Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin and Maria Alekseyevna Lvova-Belova

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ICC judges issue arrest warrants against Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin and Maria Alekseyevna Lvova-Belova

Today, 17 March 2023, Pre-Trial Chamber II of the International Criminal Court (ā€œICCā€ or ā€œthe Courtā€) issued warrants of arrest for two individuals in the context of the situation in Ukraine: Mr Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin and Ms Maria Alekseyevna Lvova-Belova.

Mr Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin, born on 7 October 1952, President of the Russian Federation, is allegedly responsible for the war crime of unlawful deportation of population (children) and that of unlawful transfer of population (children) from occupied areas of Ukraine to the Russian Federation (under articles 8(2)(a)(vii) and 8(2)(b)(viii) of the Rome Statute). The crimes were allegedly committed in Ukrainian occupied territory at least from 24 February 2022. There are reasonable grounds to believe that Mr Putin bears individual criminal responsibility for the aforementioned crimes, (i) for having committed the acts directly, jointly with others and/or through others (article 25(3)(a) of the Rome Statute), and (ii) for his failure to exercise control properly over civilian and military subordinates who committed the acts, or allowed for their commission, and who were under his effective authority and control, pursuant to superior responsibility (article 28(b) of the Rome Statute).

Ms Maria Alekseyevna Lvova-Belova, born on 25 October 1984, Commissioner for Childrenā€™s Rights in the Office of the  President of the Russian Federation, is allegedly responsible for the war crime of unlawful deportation of population (children) and that of unlawful transfer of population (children) from occupied areas of Ukraine to the Russian Federation (under articles 8(2)(a)(vii) and 8(2)(b)(viii) of the Rome Statute). The crimes were allegedly committed in Ukrainian occupied territory at least from 24 February 2022. There are reasonable grounds to believe that Ms Lvova-Belova bears individual criminal responsibility for the aforementioned crimes, for having committed the acts directly, jointly with others and/or through others (article 25(3)(a) of the Rome Statute).

Pre-Trial Chamber II considered, based on the Prosecutionā€™s applications of 22 February 2023, that there are reasonable grounds to believe that each suspect bears responsibility for the war crime of unlawful deportation of population and that of unlawful transfer of population from occupied areas of Ukraine to the Russian Federation, in prejudice of Ukrainian children.

The Chamber considered that the warrants are secret in order to protect victims and witnesses and also to safeguard the investigation. Nevertheless, mindful that the conduct addressed in the present situation is allegedly ongoing, and that the public awareness of the warrants may contribute to the prevention of the further commission of crimes, the Chamber considered that it is in the interests of justice to authorise the Registry to publicly disclose the existence of the warrants, the name of the suspects, the crimes for which the warrants are issued, and the modes of liability as established by the Chamber.

The abovementioned warrants of arrests were issued pursuant to the applications submitted by the Prosecution on 22 February 2023.

ICC Prosecutor on the issuance of arrest warrants against President Vladimir Putin and Ms Maria Lvova-Belova

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ICC Prosecutor on the issuance of arrest warrants against President Vladimir Putin and Ms Maria Lvova-Belova

On 22 February 2023, I submitted applications to Pre-Trial Chamber II of the International Criminal Court for warrants of arrest in the context of the Situation in Ukraine. Today, the Pre-Trial Chamber has issued arrest warrants in relation to the following two individuals:

Mr Vladimir Putin, President of the Russian Federation; and Ms Maria Lvova-Belova, Commissioner for Childrenā€™s Rights in the Office of theĀ  President of the Russian Federation.

On the basis of evidence collected and analysed by my Office pursuant to its independent investigations, the Pre-Trial Chamber has confirmed that there are reasonable grounds to believe that President Putin and Ms Lvova-Belova bear criminal responsibility for the unlawful deportation and transfer of Ukrainian children from occupied areas of Ukraine to the Russian Federation, contrary to article 8(2)(a)(vii) and article 8(2)(b)(viii) of the Rome Statute.

Incidents identified by my Office include the deportation of at least hundreds of children taken from orphanages and childrenā€™s care homes. Many of these children, we allege, have since been given for adoption in the Russian Federation. The law was changed in the Russian Federation, through Presidential decrees issued by President Putin, to expedite the conferral of Russian citizenship, making it easier for them to be adopted by Russian families.

My Office alleges that these acts, amongst others, demonstrate an intention to permanently remove these children from their own country. At the time of these deportations, the Ukrainian children were protected persons under the Fourth Geneva Convention.

We also underlined in our application that most acts in this pattern of deportations were carried out in the context of the acts of aggression committed by Russian military forces against the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine which began in 2014. 

In September last year, I addressed the United Nations Security Council and emphasised that the investigation of alleged illegal deportation of children from Ukraine was a priority for my Office. The human impact of these crimes was also made clear during my most recent visit to Ukraine. While there, I visited one of the care homes from which children were allegedly taken, close to the current frontlines of the conflict. The accounts of those who had cared for these children, and their fears as to what had become of them, underlined the urgent need for action.

We must ensure that those responsible for alleged crimes are held accountable and that children are returned to their families and communities. As I stated at the time, we cannot allow children to be treated as if they are the spoils of war.

Since taking up my position as Prosecutor, I have emphasised that the law must provide shelter to the most vulnerable on the front lines, and that we also must put the experiences of children in conflict at the centre of our work. To do this, we have sought to bring our work closer to communities, draw on advanced technological tools and, crucially, build innovative partnerships in support of our investigative work.

I am grateful for the support of many partners of the Office that have allowed us to move forward rapidly in the collection of evidence. I wish to express my thanks in particular  to the Office of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine whose engagement has been essential in supporting the work my Office has carried out, including on the ground in Ukraine. Our participation in the Joint Investigation Team with national authorities from seven States, under the auspices of Eurojust, has also facilitated swift access to relevant information and evidence.

I will also continue to seek cooperation from the Russian Federation in relation to the Situation in Ukraine, and ensure my Office fully meets its responsibility pursuant to article 54 of the Rome Statute to investigate incriminating and exonerating circumstances equally.

Whilst today is a first, concrete step with respect to the Situation in Ukraine, my Office continues to develop multiple, interconnected lines of investigation.

As I stated when in Bucha last May, Ukraine is a crime scene that encompasses a complex and broad range of alleged international crimes. We will not hesitate to submit further applications for warrants of arrest when the evidence requires us to do so.

Issue by the Office of the Prosecutor / OTPNewsDesk@icc-cpi.int

The Alasitas and the Bolivian Carnival Promoted in The Netherlands

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The Alasitas and the Bolivian Carnival Promoted in The Netherlands

In February last month, the Embassy of the Plurinational State of Bolivia in the Netherlands organized the celebration of the Alasitas and the Bolivian Carnival festivities for the international and Bolivian community, as well as for Boliviaā€™s friends, exhibiting miniature crafts, paintings, Bolivian dances, and didactic materials for children and promoting Bolivian tourist attractions, as the Uyuni Salt Flat and the Madidi Park.

The Oruro Carnival, celebrated every year, was inscribed on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2008 and has been declared a “masterpiece of the oral and intangible heritage of humanity” by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) since 2001, as it constitutes an expression of Boliviaā€™s extraordinary identity and rich cultural diversity and heritage.

The city of Oruro, Bolivia ā€”a significant pre-Columbian ceremonial center before its refoundation by the Spaniards in 1606ā€” remained a sacred region for the Uru people despite the Spanish ban on the traditional ceremonies of the Great Festival of Ito. With the ceremonies maintained under the disguise of Christian liturgy and hiding Andean gods behind Christian icons to ultimately turn them into saints, the Festival of Ito then became the Festival of La Candelaria (February 2), with the Diablada as its chief dance and the Virgin of Socavon (the Virgin of the mining fields) as its main reference.

The renowned Oruro Carnival is celebrated for six days every year, between the months of February and March. It gathers more than 28,000 dancers, 10,000 musicians, and more than 50 dance organizations as part of the Procession (or Entrada) ā€”the main event of this celebrationā€”, which extends throughout the Oruro city streets in an uninterrupted four-kilometer procession, allowing visitors to experience and share firsthand the richness and cultural mix between the original traditions of yesteryear and Christian liturgies.

The Diablada, Morenada, Caporales, Tinku, PĀ“ujllay and all of the other dances derive from other carnivals and festivals throughout Bolivia, such as the carnivals of yesteryear (Sucre), the Corso de Corsos (Parade of Parades), the Carnival of Concord (Cochabamba), the Miner Carnaval (Potosi), the Entrada del Gran Poder (La Paz), the Fiesta Grande de Santa Cruz, among others, which can be visited in Bolivia and which offer so much to share.

The Alasitas festivity, which means “buy from me,” in Aymara, is celebrated on January 24 in La Paz and on other dates in the rest of the Plurinational State of Bolivia. It is a cultural expression that dates back to ancient ancestral and pre-Columbian Tiwanaku traditions, namely, the celebration of fertility, Qapaq Raymi or the Great Festival of the Sun held on December 20, a day before the Summer Equinox (December 21), which included rituals for the renewal of the fertility of people, land, animals and all beings in general, with the Illas, “the children of lightning”, representing the spirit of the Ekeko, the god of abundance.

The illa is an amulet to attract fertility and economic and spiritual abundance, lacking the desire for accumulation of material goods. This idol was recovered in November, 2014 from a museum in Bern, Switzerland.Ā Ā 

The evolution of the Alasitas festival resulted in the Ekeko, the “God of Abundance”, which is a folkloric portrayal of the illa, dressed in a hat and carrying food, money, vehicles, houses, and other goods represented in miniature.

The tradition is to buy a miniature crafted good representing what one needs the most in a particular year and have a yatiri [Andean shaman], and oftentimes a priest, bless the craft (called the act of ch’alla) in order for it to come true.

Crackdown on criminal network that produced and distributed methamphetamine in EuropeĀ 

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Crackdown on criminal network that produced and distributed methamphetamine in EuropeĀ 

The Hague, 14 March 2023

With the support ofĀ EurojustĀ and Europol, judicial and law enforcement authorities in the Czech Republic, Poland, Romania and Slovakia have dismantled an organised crime group (OCG) responsible for the production and distribution of at least 4.7 tonnes of methamphetamine in Europe. During a joint action, 16 suspects were arrested and over 3.3 million tablets containing raw material for the production of the drug were seized.

According to the investigation, the perpetrators used a Romanian company to purchase the precursors (raw materials) and incorporate them into two pharmaceutical products, 50 and 120 milligram tablets of ephedrine and pseudoephedrine. They used a formula that allowed them to quickly extract these precursors for the production of methamphetamine in clandestine laboratories. One of the suspects was a partner and director of this company.

The tablets produced in Romania were shipped to companies in several European countries that purchased them without having a marketing authorisation in those countries. The tablets did not reach their declared destination, but were sent to various locations in Poland. From there, the shipments were split into smaller quantities and delivered to the Czech Republic and Slovakia, where they were distributed to clandestine laboratories.

Using the ‘Czech method’ of producing methamphetamine in clandestine laboratories, approximately 0.70 kg of methamphetamine was obtained from one kilogram of ephedrine/pseudoephedrine hydrochloride.

Between January 2021 and February 2023, the members of the criminal group allegedly organised the transport and delivery of 168 788 870 tablets containing ephedrine and pseudoephedrine (approximately 6.7 tonnes of ephedrine hydrochloride), from which a total of at least 4.7 tonnes of methamphetamine could be produced.

During joint action days from 26 February to 2 March, 16 suspects were arrested in the four countries involved.

In Poland, 3 184 500 pills containing ephedrine worth approximately EUR 840 000 (PLN 4 012 470) and 121 776 pills containing pseudoephedrine were seized. Additionally, PLN 366 200 and EUR 177 215  were also seized.

In Romania, approximately 3 tonnes of precursors, several batches of medicines and approximately EUR 600 000 were seized and several documents of interest to the case were identified.

A total of EUR 148 163, CZK 711 082 and PLN 22 433 were seized from bank accounts in the Czech Republic. Cash was also found and seized during the searches.

In Slovakia, EUR 1 129 220 was seized.

A joint investigation team (JIT) was set up between the countries involved in November 2022 with the support of Eurojust. The Agency also hosted three coordination meetings to facilitate judicial cooperation and support the coordinated investigative efforts.

Europol has been supporting the investigation since August 2022 by facilitating the exchange of information, cross-checking operational information against its databases and providing analytical support. A Europol mobile office was also deployed to Slovakia on the day of action to assist the national authorities in their investigative activities.

The following authorities took part in this investigation:

Czech Republic: Regional Public ProsecutorĀ“s Office in Ostrava, Czech Police, National Anti-Drug Unit

Poland: National ProsecutorĀ“s Office Department for Organized Crime and Corruption in Katowice and Wroclaw, Police Central Bureau of Investigation in Katowice and Wroclaw and Polish Border Guard in Nowy Sacz.

Romania: Prosecutorā€™s Office attached to the High Court of Cassation and Justice ā€“ Directorate for Investigating Organised Crime and Terrorism ā€“ Central Structure ā€“ Department for Combatting Drug Trafficking; Romanian National Police Directorate for Countering Organised Crime ā€“ Central Antidrug Service; Directorate for Special Operations

Slovakia: Regional Public ProsecutorĀ“s Office in Žilina, Presidium of the Police Force National Crime Agency Drug Headquarters

Osvaldo Zavala Giler Registrar Elect International Criminal Court

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Osvaldo Zavala Giler Registrar Elect International Criminal Court

By Roy Lie Atjam

His Excellency Ambassador AndrĆ©s TerĆ”n Parral of Ecuador organized a Vin dā€™honneur to celebrate the election of the Ecuadorian Mr. Osvaldo Zavala Giler as registrar to the International Criminal Court, ICC-CPI.

Under the Rome Statute, the Registrar is the principal administrative officer of the Court, who exercises his or her functions under the authority of the ICC President.Ā The Registrar is responsible for the non-judicial aspects of the administration and servicing of the Court, without prejudice to the functions and powers of the ICC Prosecutor, whose office acts independently as a separate organ of the Court.

H.E. Mr. AndrƩs TerƔn Parral, Ambassador of Ecuador.

Mr Osvaldo Zavala Giler is a national of Ecuador with broad work experience at the International Criminal Court. He has worked at the Court in different capacities, including as Chief of Budget Section, Senior Special Assistant to the Registrar and Head of Office of the Courtā€™s Liaison Office to the United Nations in New York. He is a founding member of the Sexual and Gender Diversity Network at the Court.

Ambassador AndrĆ©s TerĆ”n ParralĀ considers it an honour to celebrate this epic occasion with so many well-wishers.

ICC President Judge Piotr Hofmański, the of Ambassador Ecuador, H.E. Mr. AndrĆ©s TerĆ”n Parral and Ambassador Henk Cor van der Kwast, Permanent representative to the OPCW and ICC.

Mr Zavala Giler will be the first person from the Latin American and Caribbean Region to occupy the office of Registrar since its inception twenty-five years ago. The festive celebration took place at the Chancellery of Ecuador in The Hague on 9 March 2023.

In his welcome speech, Ambassador AndrĆ©s TerĆ”n Parral mentioned ā€œ I cannot emphasize enough the importance of this milestone in the long-established and steadfast relationship between our region and the ICC. Certainly, to have one of our very best taking up the position of responsibility at such a crucial time, represents a further contribution to the full realisation of the ICCĀ“s essential work in the pursuit of authentic international criminal justice.

H.E. Mr. Marcin Czepelak, Secretary General Permanent Court of Arbitrage and ICC President, Judge Piotr Hofmanski.

It is my firm conviction that the Honourable Judges of the ICC have made the right choice for this incredibly important position, given both the personal and professional qualities of Osvaldo, as well as his profound institutional knowledge of the Rome Statute System. In that context, I would also like to recognize the truly competitive nature of this election, with many highly skilled and competent candidates having participated.

Like many of you, I know Osvaldo as a dedicated and exemplary international civil servant, whose lifelong commitment to the Court, and other important causes and activities, is truly admirable and reflects his principles and human qualities. I would like to express my complete confidence in his ability to successfully and energetically lead the Registry into this new chapter of its operations, and in furtherance of the high objectives set by the Rome Statute and the international community.

H.E. Mr. Marcin Czepelak, Secretary General Permanent Court of Arbitrage and the new ICC Registrar, Osvaldo Zavala Giler.

Ecuador is honoured and proud to have such a distinguished Ecuadorian be elected to this role. We shall endeavour to continue to be an active State Party to the Rome Statute, and look forward to further strengthening and contributing to the ICCĀ“s efforts through our work here in The Hague, as well as in the United Nations Security Council and General Assembly in New York. I wish Osvaldo the greatest luck and success as registrar, and look forward to working closely together. I could not conclude these remarks without mentioning the outstanding contributions made by Mr. Peter Lewis, as registrar over the last five years. Thank you Peter.ā€

ICC Registrar, Peter Levis and the Ambassador of Ecuador, H.E. Andres Teran Parral.

Subsequently, in his acceptance speech, Mr Osvaldo Zavala Giler remarked ā€œlet me start by mentioning how sincerely grateful I am to my Embassy and the Ambassador for hosting this marvellous reception. Very humbling!

Osvaldo Zavala Giler went on, talking about the registrar at ICC, “we have new challenges, but we have seen a demonstration of trust from the state parties, they have invested in this institution and they have talked to us, now is the time to deliver and delivering is going to be my priority as registrar. We need to make sure that the institution lives up to the expectation states have in us.”

“We have a difficult mandate, we have never had an easy one, ever, now complications are different, complex but we always navigated in complex waters. We have the resilience you have demonstrated and the organization has the capacity to adapt, the capacity to move forward.”

H.E. Ms. Silvia Fernandez de Gurmendi, President of the Assembly of State Parties to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court and Osvaldo Zavala Giler.

The registrar-elect concluded his acceptance remarks by stating the following words showing his natural openness and confidence. “I want to thank you all, I see faces that have mentor me or will continue to mentor me. I will need you, I will need you to be effective, I will need you to be strong, I will need you to guide me. You are inspiring. I  have five years to ask for favours. I just want to say  thank you.”

It is reasonable to believe that in the coming days, months and years, registrar Osvaldo Zavala Giler will put forth efforts to work with all stakeholders to ensure that the registry remains vibrant and robust!

A successful stint Osvaldo.

Byblos – The World’s Most Ancient Port

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Byblos – The World’s Most Ancient Port

Between October 2022 and March 2023, Rijksmuseum van Oudheden in Leiden hosted a major exhibition called ā€˜Byblos, The Worldā€™s Most Ancient Portā€™.

What began around 6500 BC as a simple fishing village grew into a prosperous city with a rich history. Around 3000 BC, Byblos played an extraordinary role, as the most important trade hub between the Mediterranean and Middle East, being the worldā€™s first international seaport, because of the trade with cedar wood from the trees which are now a symbol of the country, Lebanon. Wood, silver, wine, and oil found their way from Byblos by sea to Egypt and in return, the city received gold, linen, precious stones or elephant ivory. The precursor of our alphabet was also developed in Byblos. Egyptians, Assyrians, Babylonians, Phoenicians, Greeks and Romans left their marks on the city. Particularly important were the city’s special ties to ancient Egypt and the goddess known as the ā€˜Lady of Byblosā€™.

Byblos Exhibition – Leiden Museum of Antiquities.

The exhibition, which ended in March, presented around 500 artefacts from famous museums such as the Louvre and the British Museum, and also from the National Museum of Beirut. The shipment of the collections was provided by specialized art transport companies, which handled everything with most care.

The planning of the exhibition had to be adjusted several times due to the Covid-19 restrictions between 2020 and 2022. But in the end, after three years of working closely together with the Lebanese Ministry of Culture/Directorate General of Antiquities and the Embassy of Lebanon in The Hague, the exhibition finally saw the light of day. It brought together millennia of world history and culture. All the figurines of gods, goddesses, warriors or animals, richly decorated weapons and jewellery, were presented as a storybook, in which famous stories from Antiquity were set in the port, palaces and cedar forests of Byblos, a succession of pop-ups with ships, cedar trees and mythological creatures, large projected 3D reconstructions and drone shots of the excavated ruins and historical photos of the first excavations in the early twentieth century.

The exhibition was officially opened by HE Judge Mohamad Wissan El Mortada, the Minister of Culture of Lebanon / his wife Judge Maya Kanaan.

They all attracted much attention upon the whole event which was officially opened on October 13 2022 by H.E. Judge Mohamad Wissan El Mortada, the Minister of Culture of Lebanon, together with his wife, Judge Maya Kanaan, with the special participation of the Ambassador of Lebanon to the Netherlands, H.E. Mr. Abdel Sattar Issa, H.E. Ms.  Frances Latinou Williams, Ambassador of Cyprus and Wim Weijland, Director Rijksmuseum van Oudheden.  

H.E. Mr. Daifallah Ali Daifallah Alfayez, Ambassador of Jordan, H.E. Mr. Ali Aldafiri, Ambassador of Kuwait, H.E. Ms. Rawan Sulaiman, Chief of Palestinian Mission, H.E. Ms. Sahar Ghanem Ambassador of Yemen, H.E. Sheikh dr. Abdullah bin Salim bin Hamad Al Harthi, Ambassador of Oman, and H.E. Mr. Slim Ghariani, Ambassador of Tunisia.

H.E. Mr. Daifallah Ali Daifallah Alfayez, Ambassador of Jordan, H.E. Mr.  Ali Aldafiri, Ambassador of Kuwait, H.E. Ms. Rawan Sulaiman, Chief of Palestinian Mission, H.E. Ms.  Sahar Ghanem, Ambassador of Yemen, H.E. Sheikh dr. Abdullah bin Salim bin Hamad Al Harthi, Ambassador of Oman, and H.E. Mr. Slim Ghariani, Ambassador of Tunisia,  H.E. Mr.  Jean-Marie Hoscheit, Ambassador of Luxembourg, H.E. Ms.  Caterina Ghini, Ambassador of Greece and H.E. Mr.  Marc Anthony Pace, Ambassador of Malta, were also present at the grand opening.

H.E. Mr. Jean-Marie Hoscheit, Ambassador of Luxembourg, H.E. Ms. Caterina Ghini, Ambassador of Greece and H.E. Mr. Marc Anthony Pace, Ambassador of Malta.

Since then, the museum has received over 103.000 visitors. Also, as Selkit Verberk (in charge of PR, Marketing & Communication at the Rijksmuseum van Oudheden in Leiden) communicated, ā€˜the exhibition received a lot of media attention, especially during the first months. The nature of the articles ranged from exhibition reviews to nice background articles on the history and archeology of ancient Byblos, in newspapers, magazines and online media, even from other countries, including Lebanon and Belgiumā€™.

Ever since the preparations for the exhibition started, the museum has been in touch with the Embassy of Lebanon to The Netherlands. H.E. Mr. Abdel Sattar Issa, Ambassador of Lebanon, was one of the best supporters of the project and also a speaker at the formal opening ceremony.

H.E. Mr. Abdel Sattar Issa, Ambassador of Lebanon, H.E. Ms. Frances Latinou Williams, Ambassador of Cyprus, Mr. Wim Weijland, Director Rijksmuseum van Oudheden and H.E. Mr. Hatem Elsayed Mohamed Kamaleldin, Ambassador of Egypt.

The fantastic exhibition about Byblos was developed in partnership with the Lebanese Ministry of Culture/Directorate General of Antiquities. Through this partnership, the Rijksmuseum van Oudheden is supporting the construction of a new archaeological museum and cultural centre at the historical site of Byblos. This museum is set to open to the public in the spring of 2023.

The exhibition was also developed with the support of the Blockbusterfonds and the VriendenLoterij, with thanks to the Lebanese Embassy (The Hague), the Dutch Embassy (Beirut) and Labrys Reizen.

Ambassador Lebanon H.E. Mr. Abdel Sattar Issa. Opening exhibition Byblos Leiden

ā€˜Byblosā€™ is the fourth successful exhibition at the Rijksmuseum van Oudheden in Leiden, from a series of events which were dedicated to key cities of Antiquity, following the very successful ones about Petra between 2013 and 2014, Carthage between 2014 and 2015, and Nineveh between 2017 and 2018.

Selkit Verberk says that ā€˜it would be fantastic to make a fifth exhibition about another famous city from Antiquity, but there are currently no concrete plans to do so. Our next big winter exhibition is about a Dutch subject, The Year 1000, and will show the present-day Netherlands in all its 10th and 11th-century diversity and glory, paying attention to the lives of both ordinary and extraordinary peopleā€™.

Byblos Exhibition.

For sure, it will be another success, as this one was.

These days, the ancient city of Byblos is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and archaeological research is still ongoing. So, maybe in the near future, weā€™ll get to see new artefacts from that interesting site and time.

The New Uzbekistan ā€“ Reforms of Public Services for the Benefit of the People

Diplomat Magazine
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The New Uzbekistan ā€“ Reforms of Public Services for the Benefit of the People

By Mr. Hudayor Meliev, Deputy Minister of Justice of the Republic of Uzbekistan

Uzbekistanā€™s first Public Service Centres (PSCs) were established five years ago, as a means of ensuring wider use of public services, reducing the time and financial costs of accessing services, and increasing the populationā€™s satisfaction with how state bodies serve them.

PSCs deliver services to individuals and legal entities using the ā€˜one stopā€™ principle, by which the public can access a service through one visit to a single office. Delivering fast, high-quality and transparent service requires avoiding bureaucracy and administrative obstacles. It requires the ability to transfer documents and information digitally between offices. Lastly there is the need to ensure compliance with the requirements of legal documents and administrative regulations for providing public services.

The PSCs were established as part of the Ministry of Justice system with the aim to successfully implement reforms in the field of public services, and to provide legal support for them.

The principle of ā€˜Moving documents instead of citizensā€™ has been identified as a central principle for providing public services. A solid legal framework has been established to regulate this area, particularly based on the laws ā€˜On administrative proceduresā€™ and ā€˜On licensing, permitting and notification proceduresā€™, administrative regulations were adopted on each service.

As a result of implemented legal and organizational measures, PSCs have become centres for solving problems encountered by the citizens, while also simplifying relations between state organizations and citizens.

The number and types of services offered at Uzbekistanā€™s PSCs are steadily increasing.

280 types of services are currently delivered through PSCs, compared to the 37 offered through the first centres established. 100 new services were offered in 2022 alone. Every day 40,000 to 45,000 citizens visit the centres and up till now 45 million service deliveries have been completed.

During 2022, about 12 million public services were provided, which is 83 times more than in 2017. The number of documents required for the provision of public services was reduced from 221 to 95 (57 %).

A new practice was established where 28 types of public services are delivered to citizens and business entitiesā€™ address through the mail on the request. This allows citizens to avoid visiting the PSCs or the competent authorities second time.

Great efforts have been made to ensure that PSC buildings are modern, accessible and convenient for citizens living across Uzbekistan, including for those in our nationā€™s rural and remote areas.

PSCs have been established across all over the Republicā€™s 208 districts and cities. Modern buildings have been built to house 180 PSCs, 79 established through public-private partnerships. 138 PSC branches have been set up in remote, mountainous areas of Uzbekistan, between 50 and 100 kilometres away from district urban centres. Local citizens no longer have to make long trips to access services.

Today PSCs have all amenities needed by visitors, including waiting rooms equipped with electronic queue systems, information stands, self-service corners, medical assistance, bookshelves and children’s playgrounds, Wi-Fi zones, and cafes.

It should be noted separately that in order to create comfort for citizens with hearing and speech impairments, the surdo translator service was also established. During 2022, 254 of such citizens were served.

Digitalization service delivery and blockchain technology

The Ministry of Justice has done an unprecedented job in helping digitize Uzbekistanā€™s public services. In the past 3 years, more than 60 million archival documents of the civil registry office have been scanned and stored digitally, making it possible to digitize the delivery of civil registry services in Uzbekistan.

As a result of digitalization, the possibility of determining the composition of the family was created in the information system.

Also, the extraterritorial principle has been established to the procedure for recording civil status act records.

The process of providing public services related to registration of civil status records is being developed using the ā€˜principle of continuous improvementā€™.

Incorporating blockchain technology into the system of electronically registering civil status records has guaranteed the reliability and security of these records.

The Ministry of Justice helped to create a Data Processing Centre (DCP), equipping it with modern server devices and equipment needed to store, process and digitize archival documents in the registry system.

Applying this technology in the Civil Registryā€™s single electronic archive has eliminated existing bureaucratic processes and improved the quality of service, ensuring safe storage and simplified access to information on the life events of citizens.

Services offered on a mobile basis and an extraterritorial principle

Mobile state services have been established to better assist citizens living in Uzbekistanā€™s remote areas. During 2022 alone, more than 800 thousand mobile services were provided.

Specially-adapted vehicles function as these PSCs, equipped with modern information and communication tools.

Picture

Since 2019, all services provided through public service centres have been established on the principle of “extraterritorial “.

What does this give to the population? Regardless of where they live or where they are registered, citizens and entrepreneurs will be able to use services at places convenient for them.

Making the public aware of online services is important task

Today in Uzbekistan we talk more about digital government, rather than the concept of e-government. Necessary legal framework and infrastructure has been established, and the ā€˜Digital Uzbekistan ā€“ 2030ā€™ state programme has been adopted.

It has become essential to educate citizens on using public services online, and improving their skills in this direction. One key step in this progress has been establishing self-service corners at PSCs, the use of which are guided by customers service assistants, which have helped citizens access online services in a simple way.

In particular, public services used online by citizens amounted to 3,1 million in 2020, 8,4 million in 2021, and 11,8 million in 2022.

In this case, the corners of self-service have become important and equipped with the necessary material equipment and connected to the Internet network. In doing so, PSCs employees provide visitors with the necessary explanations and advice about the benefits of using the online service.

From 1 August 2022 a ā€˜Mobile-IDā€™ for personal identification has been introduced into the public services system. This alternative means of identification has served to fully implement the principle of ā€˜from web to appā€™.

Although there was not much time before the start of the “Mobile-ID” system, about 750,000 citizens began to use this system by registering.

List of documents forbidden to demand from the population approved

To reduce bureaucracy and red tape in public service provision, the need for Uzbekistanā€™s citizens to present 73 types of documents and references has been cancelled, alongside the simplifying of more than 200 procedures.

This means that more than 20 million people each year have been freed from excessive paperwork, from travelling to offices, and helped to save about 300 billion money of population related visiting to government offices.

Documents that can no longer be requested from citizens include identity documents and photos, and employment records. The practice of requiring these documents has been in place for the last 80 years, causing annoyance and frustration to citizens. Reducing document requests has radically improved relations between state and citizens.

Multiple services delivered through a single citizen request

Services have been strategically packaged as a way of preventing citizens from wasting time while moving from office to office ā€“ interrelated public services delivered in a composite form, on the basis of a citizensā€™ single request.

For example, when registering their childā€™s birth at a PSC, parents will be simultaneously registering their baby at a polyclinic, sending an application to receive the one-time financial allowance for new parents, registering their baby at their permanent address, and entering the queue for state preschool education. Achieving all these once-separated outcomes through a single process not only saves new parents time and financial resources, but also eliminates the need for them to submit 15 individual documents. For the average 70,000 births recorded each month in Uzbekistan, parents have been saved 280,000 visits to public offices. As a result of this, the citizens were able to save more than 11 billion soums.

Proactive service delivery

On its own initiative, the provision of proactive public services was established, which implies that state organizations offer citizens to use the necessary service in a given situation.

For example, since November 2022, a system has been introduced for the appointment of benefits paid to children under 18 years of age with disabilities and children with a disease caused by the human immunodeficiency virus under the age of 18, as well as care benefits in a “proactive form” without requiring additional documents from citizens.

We agree in time that one of the experts in this field is the Estonian specialist Marten Kaivats, who says that “the best service is one that you didnā€™t even notice that you have received it.”

Public Service Centres functioning as free legal advice centres

The legal advisory offices of Uzbekistanā€™s ā€˜Madadā€™ NGO are located in the buildings of the district and city PSCs, providing free primary legal assistance on legal issues, including online advice and explanations. This service has helped to develop the populationā€™s awareness of and access to impartial legal assistance. In the first nine months of 2022, free legal aid was provided to 120,530 citizens through this means.

Monitoring PSC service delivery

Situation centres are recognized as being one of the most effective means of implementing a situational approach to strategic management. Between 300 and 1,500 applicants visit PSCs and Civil registry offices daily. A Situation Centre has been established at the Ministry of Justice, to monitor the quality and speed of service delivery, and identify related problems in a timely manner.

The integrated centralized repository of the situation centre combines information from various sources, and uses this to guide management decision-making. It helps streamline the remote monitoring, forecasting and analysis of provided services, while also assessing employeesā€™ work and compliance with ethical rules.

A consistent, comprehensive analysis of dynamically-developing situations helps to identify main problems and issues, and find best solutions for resolving these going forward.

The Satisfaction of citizens with PSCs is increasing.

The Ministry of Justice, in close partnership with international organizations, has continually studied citizensā€™ satisfaction with public services. As part of the ā€˜Improved Public Service Delivery and Enhanced Governance in Rural Uzbekistanā€™ project implemented together with the European Union and the United Nations Development Programme, an anonymous survey was conducted by a third party among PSC visitors. It found that 90 percent of citizens visiting the centres were satisfied with the services offered, and highly rated the assistance of public-facing employees.

An exchange of specific paradigms took place.

Uzbekistanā€™s population can see that the principle ā€˜Moving documents instead of citizensā€™ is not just a lofty statement, but a reality. Uzbekistanā€™s Public Service Centres work to embody the national objective expressed by President Shavkat Mirziyoyev: ā€œLet the state agencies serve the people, not the people serve the state agencies.ā€ Seeking a citizen-centric mode of operation encourages an innovative search for new solutions that will genuinely meet citizensā€™ needs.

The government development project being jointly implemented by the United Nations Development Programme and the European Union has supported key reforms made in this direction.

Anyone who visits Uzbekistanā€™s Public Service Centres can see that their established environment, and the quality and speed of services, is being constantly refined and improved. Of course, there are still shortcomings, which are being constantly addressed. Our goal is to provide highest standards of service to every citizen who seeks government assistance.

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