Global Justice Center and the Bar Human Rights Committee Send a Submission to the International Criminal Court Urging the Opening of a Preliminary Examination
Re: Submission by the Global Justice Center and the Bar Human Rights Committee Urging the Opening of a Preliminary Examination
Dear Prosecutor Bensouda,
The Global Justice Center and the Bar Human Rights Committee of England and Wales are writing to urge the Office of the Prosecutor (OTP) to open a preliminary examination into genocide and other crimes committed by foreign fighters from the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham/Greater Syria (“ISIS”
aka “ISIL”, “Da’esh” or “IS”, hereinafter “ISIS”).
It is imperative that all possible measures are taken to investigate, address and deter the heinous crimes being committed by ISIS, including the opening of a preliminary examination by the OTP. Accordingly, we urge your office to reevaluate its April 2015 finding that it has inadequate jurisdictional bases to open a preliminary examination. In fact, as detailed in our enclosed submission: (1) the requirements of subject matter, temporal, and personal jurisdiction have been met in this case, specifically with respect to ISIS’s foreign fighters; (2) the OTP’s own policies favor exercising personal jurisdiction; and (3) substantial normative justifications support opening a preliminary examination. A reasonable basis upon which to open a preliminary examination is further established by the gravity of the crimes in question, in particular crimes of sexual and gender-based violence, as well as the interests of victims and of justice.