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Strengthening and creating international humanitarian and human rights law and institutions
- Advance the global campaign for the establishment of the international criminal court.
- Encourage close co-operation between the converging fields of international humanitarian and human rights law.
- Reinforce support for the international criminal tribunals.
- Enforce universal jurisdiction for universal crimes: building upon the Pinochet precedent.
- Reform and expand the role of the international court of justice, in the context of a more comprehensive system of global justice.
- Strengthen protection of and provide reparation for the victims of armed conflict.
- End violence against women in times of armed conflict
- Stop the use of child soldiers.
- Help victims to hold abusers accountable under international humanitarian and human rights law.
- Protect human rights defenders, humanitarian workers and whistle blowers.
- Train grassroots organisations to use national, regional and international mechanisms in the enforcement of international law.
- Promote increased public knowledge, teaching and understanding of international humanitarian and human rights law.
- Integrate human rights protections into conflict prevention, resolution and post-conflict reconstruction.
- Build upon the successes and failures of truth commissions and political amnesties.
- Establish a universal and effective system of habeas corpus.
- Subject war making to democratic controls.
Advance the Global Campaign for the Establishment of the International Criminal Court
We support the work of the NGO Coalition for an International Criminal Court (CICC) in expanding upon its global efforts to establish the permanent International Criminal Court, through an intensive education and ratification campaign, and through active participation in the sessions of the United Nations Preparatory Commission for the International Criminal Court.
Global Ratification Campaign for the International Criminal Court
The NGO Coalition for an International Criminal Court (CICC) will launch its global campaign for the ratification of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. The ICC will be a permanent court for bringing to justice individuals accused of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity. To reach the target of 60 ratifications the campaign will concentrate on raising awareness and understanding of the ICC among the general public, all sectors of civil society, the news media and decision makers around the world.
Encourage Close Co-operation Between the Converging Fields of International Humanitarian and Human Rights Law
We recognise the increasing convergence between the fields of international humanitarian and human rights law, a development critical to the effective protection of victims of both human rights and humanitarian law violations. We advocate changes in the development and implementation of laws in both of these fields, in order to close critical gaps in protection and to harmonize these vital areas of international law.
Reinforce Support for the International Criminal Tribunals
The international criminal tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda represent the first steps which the international community has taken since the end of World War II towards holding individuals criminally accountable for violations of international humanitarian and human rights law. We call for the indictment and arrest of alleged war criminals who remain at large. We also need to focus on the practices and working methods of the tribunals and the need to address accusations that they are partisan and to support a mutually constructive working relationship between the tribunals and civil society, regional and international organizations. We support the efforts of the United Nations to establish an international criminal tribunal to investigate and prosecute genocide and crimes against humanity in Cambodia.
Enforce Universal Jurisdiction for Universal Crimes: Building Upon the Pinochet Precedent
It is now generally recognized that war crimes, crimes against the peace and violations of universally recognized human rights principles are matters of global rather than merely national concern. Not every person committing a universal crime can or should be tried by the International Criminal Court once it is established, or by an ad hoc tribunal such as those for Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia. Civil society and domestic courts must do their part, as those of Spain are endeavouring to do in the case of Pinochet. We call upon national legislative and judicial systems, world-wide, to incorporate the principle of universal jurisdiction for such crimes as well as torts into their laws in order to ensure that serious violations of human rights, especially against children, are not treated with impunity.
Reform and Expand the Role of the International Court of Justice in the Context of a More Comprehensive System of Global Justice
The International Court of Justice must serve as the locus of a more effective, integrated system of international justice. The Hague Appeal will advance proposals for strengthening interrelationships between national, regional and international legal institutions, with the aim of fostering a more comprehensive global system of justice. Initiatives which further this aim include expanding the advisory opinion and conflict resolution functions of the court to provide access for civil society, regional and international organizations; instituting compulsory jurisdiction for states; and encouraging cooperation among international legal institutions and alternate fora for dispute resolution.
Strengthen Protection of and Provide Reparation for the Victims of Armed Conflict
Since World War Two, the focus of conflict has dramatically shifted, with the result that civilians are frequently targeted and the number of civilians wounded and killed in conflict now vastly outnumbers that of combatants. We will advocate greater protection for the most vulnerable and frequent victims of conventional arms proliferation and armed conflict, including internally displaced persons, refugees, women and children. We also seek more consistent adherence to the standards of international humanitarian and human rights law by non-State combatants and quasi-state paramilitary forces and will examine the role of the United Nations in situations of armed conflict. Finally, we demand that victims of armed conflict and human rights violations be made whole through the establishment of national, regional and international victim compensation funds and other reparation measures, which address the needs of victims in a timely way.
End Violence Against Women in Times of Armed Conflict
Today, war, armed conflict and the presence of military bases impact women, adolescents and children as never before in history. Women and their families are increasingly targets of violence and war crimes including rape, sexual assault, enforced prostitution and sexual slavery. They also confront a host of problems as victims and survivors who are internally displaced, made refugees or pressured by their governments to refrain from pursuing their rights against violations committed by foreign military personnel. We endorse the integration of basic protections for women into the statute of the International Criminal Court and will advocate additional changes in the development and implementation of international law, in order to secure the rights and dignity of women in armed conflict.
Stop the Use of Child Soldiers
More than 300,000 children under 18 years of age are believed to be currently participating in armed conflicts around the world. Hundreds of thousands more are members of armed forces or groups and could be sent into combat at almost any moment. The Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers, UNICEF and the ICRC are actively campaigning to increase the age of recruitment to 18. They are also appealing to governments and all armed groups to prevent the recruitment of children under the age of 18, to immediately demobilise child soldiers, and to incorporate their needs into peacekeeping, peace agreements and demobilization programs, and for the end of this unconscionable practice and for the rehabilitation and social reintegration of former child soldiers. We will provide other non-governmental organisations the opportunity to contribute to these campaigns and to explore other methods by which children's rights may be protected.
Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers
The Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers was formed in May 1998 by leading international Non-Governmental Organizations seeking an end to the military recruitment and use as soldiers of all children under 18 years of age, whether by governmental armed forces or armed opposition groups
Help Victims to Hold Abusers Accountable Under International Humanitarian and Human Rights Law
Recent trends in national and regional litigation and prosecution make it possible for victims of gross human rights and humanitarian law violations to hold abusers accountable. This right exists in some domestic courts and regional tribunals, including the European and Inter-American Courts of Human Rights, and has led to litigation against members of the private sector, such as mercenaries and arms manufacturing and other corporations. We will advocate for the extension of this right throughout the international legal order.
Protect Human Rights Defenders, Humanitarian Workers and Whistle blowers
The year 1998 saw more civilian representatives of the United Nations killed in action than military peacekeepers. In addition, countless human rights defenders and humanitarian workers from national, regional and international organisations have been injured or killed in the course of their work. We propose and demand improvements in protection for human rights defenders and humanitarian workers in the field and mechanisms by which violations of these individuals' rights may be monitored and lessened. The Hague Appeal will also call for strengthened protection for whistle blowers; individuals who expose international law violations or other illegal actions of governments, corporations and other institutions at the risk of their careers, and sometimes their lives.
Train Grassroots organisations to Use National, Regional and International Mechanisms in the Enforcement of International Law
There are increasing opportunities for grassroots organizations to seek remedies for violations of humanitarian and human rights laws at the local or national level through regional and international mechanisms. The Hague Appeal will provide training and awareness programs, which will heighten understanding of these remedies and how grassroots organizations may work together or singly to ensure that access to these mechanisms is unrestrained and utilised. We also need to provide an opportunity for activists to learn how they may be involved in identifying violators in their communities and bringing them to account for their actions.
Promote Increased Public Knowledge, Teaching and Understanding of International Humanitarian and Human Rights Law
The increasing likelihood of international involvement in armed conflicts underscores the need for effective human rights and humanitarian training for peacekeepers, in parallel with similar training for national military institutions, in order to promote awareness of and adherence to the requirements of international law. There is also a need for greater awareness of international humanitarian and human rights law among national lawmakers and law enforcers. We will call for mandatory training in international humanitarian and human rights law for lawyers, legislators, judges and politicians.
Integrate Human Rights Protections into Conflict Prevention, Resolution and Post-Conflict Reconstruction
International and regional interventions in conflicts is a growing phenomenon in the world of conflict resolution and post-conflict reconstruction. Increasingly, the international community has taken on responsibility for political, legal, social and economic institution building in post-conflict societies. We advocate for measures to ensure that long-term, systematic protection of human rights is central to these processes.
Build Upon the Successes and Failures of Truth Commissions and Political Amnesties
The field of post-conflict reconstruction has seen remarkable new developments over the last few decades, in particular the use of truth commissions and political amnesties as in South Africa as tools for mending societies torn apart by war, armed conflicts and apartheid. The Hague Appeal will examine the failures and successes of past truth commissions and political amnesties, as well as proposals for new truth commissions in Bosnia, East Timor and elsewhere.
Establish a Universal and Effective System of Habeas Corpus
The thousands of individuals arrested each year on political, ethnic and other illegal grounds need an effective system by which they or their representation can call attention to their plight before they are killed, tortured or disappeared. Article 9 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights must be given teeth by providing for a rapid and effective system of habeas corpus, with the right of appeal to regional or supra regional human rights commissions or courts.
Subject War making to Democratic Controls
Nothing is more subversive of democracy than allowing the power to take a country to war to reside exclusively in the hands of the executive or military branches of government. We will call on all countries and international organizations to take constitutional or legislative action requiring parliamentary approval to initiate armed conflict, except in extreme cases requiring immediate action for self-defence.
