New OTP Report on On-going Preliminary Examination of the situation in Nigeria
As part of it ongoing preliminary examination of the situation in Nigeria, the Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) today published a new report presenting its findings with respect to the analysis of jurisdictional issues.
After analyses of all available information, the Office of the Prosecutor has determined that there is a reasonable basis to believe that crimes against humanity have been committed in Nigeria, namely acts of murder and persecution attributed to Boko Haram, a militant group operating mainly in north-eastern Nigeria. The Office of the Prosecutor is now assessing whether the national authorities are conducting genuine proceedings in relation to those who appear to bear the greatest responsibility for such crimes, and the gravity of such crimes. The assessment of jurisdictional issues with respect to other groups in Nigeria will continue.
The Report is based on information gathered by the Office up to December 2012. It relates to one the four phases in the Prosecutor’s preliminary examination of the situation in Nigeria, namely phase 2. Only after completion of all phases the Prosecutor will make a determination whether a fully-fledged investigation is warranted.
For more information please see the Article 5 Report on the situation of Nigeria.
Background: The Office of the Prosecutor is responsible for determining whether a situation meets the legal criteria established by the Rome Statute – the Court’s founding treaty - to warrant an investigation by the International Criminal Court. For this purpose, the Office analyses of all situations brought to its attention based on the information available and statutory criteria, including: jurisdiction (temporal, material, and either territorial or personal jurisdiction); admissibility (complementarity and gravity); and the interests of justice. The Office of the Prosecutor is currently conducting preliminary examinations in eight situations. More information on preliminary examinations can be found here.