Pictured Their Majesties, King Abdullah II and Queen Rania Al Abdullah. The Pope Francis I, will visit Jordan to celebrate a mass service in Amman International stadium on May 24 from 4:00 to 6:00 pm. In response to an invitation by His Majesty King Abdullah II, Pope Francis I will pay an official visit to Jordan on May 24. The visit of the Pope, the first since his election as leader of the Catholic Church, is an important step towards enhancing fraternity and tolerance between Muslims and Christians as well as the message of peace called for by all monotheistic religions. During his tour, which will also include Palestine and Israel, His Holiness will discuss with King Abdullah relations between Jordan and the Vatican as well as issues related to promoting fraternity and dialogue and Islamic-Christian coexistence, in addition to the latest developments in the Middle East. Their Majesties, King Abdullah II and Queen Rania Al Abdullah, made an official visit to the Vatican last August during which they met with Pope Francis I. The pontiff’s visit to the Kingdom is the fourth in half a century, starting with Pope Paul VI’s tour of Jordan and Palestine in 1964. The second visit to Jordan was by Pope John Paul II in 2000 while the third was by Pope Benedict XVI in 2009. Pope Francis I, Jorge Mario Bergoglio, first Pope of the Americas hails from Argentina. The 76-year-old Jesuit Archbishop of Buenos Aires is a prominent figure throughout the continent, yet remains a simple pastor who is deeply loved by his diocese, throughout which he has travelled extensively on the underground and by bus during the 15 years of his episcopal ministry. “My people are poor and I am one of them”, he has said more than once, explaining his decision to live in an apartment and cook his own supper. He has always advised his priests to show mercy and apostolic courage and to keep their doors open to everyone. The worst thing that could happen to the Church, he has said on various occasions, “is what de Lubac called spiritual worldliness”, which means, “being self-centred”. And when he speaks of social justice, he calls people first of all to pick up the Catechism, to rediscover the Ten Commandments and the Beatitudes. His project is simple: if you follow Christ, you understand that “trampling upon a person’s dignity is a serious sin. The land of modern day Jordan, has been the site of significant events in the history of Christianity spanning across centuries throughout the New and Old Testaments. It is because of this religious significance that sites all around Jordan have been designated as pilgrimage sites and have been visited by Pope Paul VI, Pope John Paul II, and Pope Benedict XVI within the past half century and expects its fourth Papal visit by Pope Francis now in May of 2014. As a land dedicated to religious coexistence, the country of Jordan maintains these religious sites for the use of pilgrims from all around the world. “Today I am in Jordan, a land familiar to me from the Holy Scriptures – a land sanctified by the presence of Jesus Himself, by the presence of Moses, Elijah and John the Baptist; and of saints and martyrs of the early Church. Yours is a land noted for its hospitality and openness to all.” Full details: http://international.visitjordan.com/pope/indexEn.htm

May 2014, the Appeals Chamber of the International Criminal Court (ICC) delivered its judgment confirming the decision of the ICC Pre-Trial Chamber  declaring admissible the case against Saif Al-Islam Gaddafi. The Appeals Chamber’s judgment was issued by majority, with a separate concurring opinion by Judge Sang-Hyun Song. Judge Anita Ušacka adopted a dissenting opinion. On 31 May 2013, Pre-Trial Chamber  had rejected Libya’s challenge to the admissibility of the case against Saif Al Islam Gaddafi and reminded Libya of its obligation to surrender the suspect to the Court. Libya appealed this decision on 7 June 2013. According to article 17 (1) (a) of the Rome Statute, a case is inadmissible before the Court where the same case is being investigated or prosecuted by a State which has jurisdiction over it, unless the State is unable or unwilling genuinely to carry out the investigation or prosecution. In an open hearing, today, Judge Erkki Kourula, Presiding Judge on this appeal, read a summary of the Appeals Chamber’s judgment. He explained that the Appeals Chamber was of the view that the Pre-Trial Chamber did not err in either fact or law when it concluded that Libya had fallen short of substantiating, by means of evidence of a sufficient degree of specificity and probative value, that Libya’s investigation covers the same case that is before the Court. The Appeals Chamber also rejected Libya’s arguments that the Pre-Trial Chamber had made procedural errors when reaching its decision. On that basis, the Appeals Chamber confirmed the Pre-Trial Chamber’s decision, according to which Mr Gaddafi’s case is admissible before the ICC.  

On 15 May 2014, the President of the International Criminal Court (ICC), Judge Sang-Hyun Song, and the President of the Assembly of States Parties (ASP) to the Rome Statute, H.E. Ms. Tiina Intelmann, spoke at a Seminar on the Kampala Amendments held in Brdo, Slovenia, with a special focus on the crime of aggression. President Song said that “the advent of the ICC and the broader Rome Statute system has changed the way the world thinks – and increasingly also, acts – in relation to grave international crimes”. In her panel intervention, President Intelmann stressed her belief that States should consider ratifying both of the Kampala Amendments as soon as possible: “the Kampala Amendments are a fundamental tool to support the establishment a rules-based international order, where law prevails over force.” Speaking later at a press conference, President Song stated that while only the States Parties can collectively activate the ICC’s ability to exercise jurisdiction over the crime of aggression, there were strong arguments for doing so sooner rather than later. “First of all, armed conflicts have an immensely destructive effect on the lives of thousands of people and indeed entire nations. War is the ultimate tragedy that any society can encounter. Secondly, aggression is not only a grave crime in its own right but often leads to other atrocity crimes within the ICC’s jurisdiction, such as war crimes and the crimes against humanity. Finally, as it is well recognized, the crime of aggression poses the most severe threat to international peace and security. Aggressive war anywhere is a threat to peace everywhere”, summarised President Song. While in Slovenia, President Song met H.E. Mr Karl Erjavec, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Slovenia, and thanked him for Slovenia’s strong support to the ICC, including through Slovenia’s valuable contributions to the Trust Fund for Victims and the recent ratification of the Kampala. Minister Erjavec pledged Slovenia’s continued support to the ICC. President Intelmann met with Slovenia’s State Secretary, H.E. Mr Bogdan Benko on means to promote universality in the region. She also used the opportunity of the wide participation from the Eastern European Region to meet with representatives from Armenia, with whom she discussed the prospects of a forthcoming ratification of the Rome Statute. President Song further delivered a university lecture at the University of Ljubljana, Slovenia, where he received an honorary medal. On Friday 16 May 2014, President Song travelled to Zagreb, Croatia, to meet H.E. Ms Vesna Pusić, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign and European Affairs, and H.E. Mr Orsat Miljenić, Minister of Justice. Croatia was the first country from South-East Europe to ratify the Rome Statute and has already ratified the Kampala amendments. Judge Song conveyed the ICC’s gratitude for Croatia’s longstanding support, while Minister Pusić and Minister Miljenić expressed Croatia’s willingness to further strengthen the excellent cooperation with the ICC. The same day, President Song spoke at the University of Zagreb on the ICC’s contribution to international justice. In his lecture, he touched upon institutional and jurisdictional differences between the ICC and the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), and expressed his personal regret that in 1991, when the war broke out in the former Yugoslavia, there was no international criminal tribunal already in place to deter the commission of atrocity crimes. “With a permanent ICC, the promise of a less violent world is more realistic”, concluded President Song. On her part, on 16 May 2014, President Intelmann travelled to Geneva to address the “Group of Friends of the International Criminal Court”. She provided an update on the work ahead for the Assembly in 2014 and the ongoing priorities and needs of the Court. She welcomed the commitment and coordination among States Parties in Geneva who have taken advantage of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) mechanism to further the goals of the Court, including universality, domestic implementation of the Rome Statute, ratification of or accession to the Agreement on Privileges and Immunities of the ICC and the Kampala Amendments, and cooperation with the Court. President Intelmann discussed with States Parties various means to take the next step and promote the implementation of the numerous ICC-related recommendations accepted by States under review at the UPR. In Geneva also, at the Academy of International Humanitarian Law, President Intelmann joined a technical seminar on a project of a Convention on Crimes Against Humanity. At this discussion, Ambassador Intelmann highlighted the fundamental role played by domestic legislation to prosecute crimes against humanity and of the legal gap of mechanisms that promote mutual legal assistance among states to support domestic prosecutions. During their visits, President Song and President Intelmann gave several interviews to the media and met a number of seminar participants from other States of the Eastern European Group, both States Parties and those not yet party to the Rome Statute, urging the latter the join the evolving system of international criminal justice.