17 July 2001 – The Belgrade Center for Human rights is pleased to learn of the ratification of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court by the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. In December of 2000, FR Yugoslavia became a signatory to this convention, enacted at the UN diplomatic conference in Rome on the 17th of July 1998. The statute has so far been signed by 139 countries.As a member of the coalition for the foundation of the International Criminal Court, the Belgrade Center for Human Rights points out the importance of creating a permanent international body with the power to judge individuals responsible for serious international crimes.
The International Criminal Court will be formally established when its Statute is ratified by sixty signatory states. So far thirty-six have done so.
The ratification of this statute certainly demonstrates FR Yugoslavia’s willingness to participate in the creation of mechanisms whereby perpetrators of crimes against human rights, regardless of their country of origin, can be brought to justice.
