ICC Pre-Trial Chamber I rejects Côte d’Ivoire’s challenge to the admissibility of the case and reminds the Government of its obligation to surrender Simone Gbagbo   On December 11. 2014, the Pre-Trial Chamber I of the International Criminal Court (ICC) rejected the Republic of Côte d’Ivoire’s challenge to the admissibility of the case against Simone Gbagbo before the Court, and reminded Côte d’Ivoire of its obligation to surrender Simone Gbagbo to the Court without delay. A challenge to the admissibility of a case before the ICC is granted if the case is being genuinely investigated or prosecuted by a State which has jurisdiction over it, unless the State is unwilling or unable genuinely to carry out the investigation or prosecution. For a case to be declared inadmissible, the national investigation and/or prosecution must cover the same individual and substantially the same conduct as alleged in the proceedings before the Court. After a thorough assessment of the documentation made available to the Chamber, in accordance with article 17(1)(a) of the Rome Statute, the Chamber concluded that Côte d’Ivoire’s domestic authorities were not taking tangible, concrete and progressive steps aimed at ascertaining whether Simone Gbagbo is criminally responsible for the same conduct that is alleged in the case before the Court. Accordingly, Pre-Trial Chamber I rejected the admissibility challenge. Having found the case against Simone Gbagbo admissible before the ICC, the Chamber reminded Côte d’Ivoire of its obligation to surrender Simone Gbagbo to the Court without delay. The decision of the Pre-Trial Chamber may be appealed, in accordance with article 82 of the Rome Statute.

In an int’l conference on world against Violence and Extremism (WAVE):

10 Iranian strategies to combat terrorism and extremism in the region and world / President proposes Dec 18 as World Day against Violence and Extremism

President Hassan Rouhani stressed the importance of enhancing efforts by all governments and peace-loving movements to optimize coordination, interaction, understanding, cooperation and zeal worldwide to fight violence and extremism. He made the remarks here on Tuesday in his opening speech to the international conference on World against Violence and Extremism (WAVE). President Rouhani said governments should orchestrate policies to push aside extremist groups. President believed the universal enthusiasm shown to the idea of a world free of violence and extremism and the fact that it was adopted almost unanimously with world countries indicates the necessity and significance of anti-violence attempts worldwide. Though extensive economic cooperation and political interaction led to reducing amount of violence and extremism in significant parts of the world, he added, it unfortunately persisted in other parts of the world like the Middle East, claiming lives of tens of people every day. President Rouhani highlighted the need for the governments to cooperate in a bid to bring about a world free of violence. President proposed December 18 as the World Day against Violence and Extremism. President Rouhani proposed the date because it coincides with the anniversary of a UN General Assembly resolution last year. President put forward ten strategies to launch an immediate fight against terrorism. He said allocating a day to highlight the notion will make the bloods shed unfairly remembered and the global will to fight violence and extremism get a new life each year. He said the countries which have initiated, organized and financially supported terrorist groups should distance themselves now from them and stop their direct and indirect assistance to these groups. He said such groups should also aid with the victim countries by providing financial, information and military assistance to them. He noted that Iraq and Syria have suffered extreme losses due to the assistance provided to the terrorists, making it necessary for certain countries to financially compensate for the damages. Stressing that terrorists recruit their forces from among unemployed and deprived people, President Rouhani underscored the necessity of establishing an international fund to generate jobs and help development process in countries which have fallen victims to terrorism. He also said religious schools should be established with the objective of correcting the wrong extremist and violent notions followed by the terrorists and also to promote the true image of beneficent Islam in the world. He pointed to the need for a global campaign to confront misuse of cyber space and social networks by terrorists. He said countries which are located on the terrorist’s mobility route should have stronger political will and devise better mechanisms to stop easy movement of terrorists. President went on to stress the need for the international community to try to make amendments in the United Nations structure especially in the Security Council and its use of veto mechanism which in times poses serious threat to the global peace and security. This very mechanism, President Rouhani added, has been quite ineffective and practically paralyzed the international organization. The inefficiency of the UN Security Council seriously undermines international peace and security, encourages aggressions, disappoints victims and paves the way for violent actions, he added. He urged the international community to use determination and firm will to start initiation of a process for rehabilitation of the UN from its periodical paralysis. He finally hoped that the WAVE conference in Tehran could come up with effective and practical ways to promote the culture of peace and coexistence as well as the spirit of fighting violence and extremism in the world