Justice Matters in the Central African Republic: CAR and the ICC sign guestbook symbolising mutual cooperation
With Gervais Bodagay
On 18 May 2016, in a brief ceremony, His Excellency Flavien Mbata, the Minister for Justice, Human Rights and the Keeper of the Seals of the Central African Republic (CAR), and Mr Adrien Luciani, acting Chief of the Field Office of the International Criminal Court (ICC) in the CAR, signed a guestbook of the Court’s activities. The signing of the ICC-CAR guestbook, which is entitled “Justice Matters” [“Une affaire de justice”], symbolises the fruitful cooperation between the Government of the Central African Republic and the International Criminal Court.
The Central African Republic is currently one of the States which cooperates to the full with the International Criminal Court. It should be recalled that the Central African Republic is in fact one of the earliest countries which enabled the Court to exercise its jurisdiction by ratifying, on 3 October 2001, the Rome Statute, the founding treaty of the Court. After the Rome Statute entered into force on 1 July 2002, the judicial and political authorities of the Central African Republic quickly seized the Court twice (in December 2004 and May 2014), requesting it to investigate serious crimes committed on Central African Republic soil.
Furthermore, during the inauguration of the new ICC Headquarters in The Hague, the Netherlands, the Minister for Justice, Human Rights and Keeper of the Seals of the Central African Republic openly reaffirmed his support for the Court in a leading article published by the CAR media, highlighting the permanent nature of the fight against impunity, which the new ICC building embodies.
This collaboration is not one-sided. The ICC collaborates with and supports all initiatives to fight the impunity so fervently promoted by the Minister.
The guestbook signed on 18 May has since been moved to the ICC Registry Office in Bangui as a symbol of CAR’s commitment to the cause of justice and the fight against impunity.
