Stockholm, Sweden
ILAC congratulates the International Criminal Court (ICC) for its nomination to receive the 2017 Stockholm Human Rights Award. The prize will recognize the ICC´s work advancing international justice and strengthening respect for human rights.
The International Legal Assistance Consortium, the Swedish Bar Association and the International Bar Association bestow the Stockholm Human Rights Award annually to a person or organisation for outstanding services in the support of human rights and the rule of law.
The award ceremony will be held in Stockholm, Sweden, on 20 November, in the presence of Their Majesties King Carl Gustaf and Queen Silvia and an audience of eminent individuals in international law. The Principals of the ICC – the President, Prosecutor and Registrar – will receive the Award collectively. Respectively, they are Judge Silvia Fernández de Gurmendi, Fatou Bensouda, and Herman von Hebel.
Situated in The Hague, the ICC is the only permanent international criminal court of last resort, with a mandate to fight against impunity for the most serious crimes of concern to the international community with full respect for due process rights of suspects and accused persons. The Court was established when the Rome Statute – the legal basis for creating the ICC – entered into force on 1 July 2002 after ratification by 60 states. In the intervening years, the number of States Parties to the Rome Statute has more than doubled, presently standing at 124.
Through building understanding and cooperation with countries worldwide, the ICC has become a reality stemming from a groundbreaking idea of an international criminal court holding to account those who commit the most heinous crimes. States Parties are legally obliged to arrest and surrender ICC suspects to the Court; where required, freeze assets, and cooperate with the Court in other forms such as for the protection of victims and witnesses. Absent its own police force or enforcement body, cooperation underpins the Rome Statute system.
Since the Court’s creation, the Office of the Prosecutor has opened ten official investigations and ten preliminary examinations. So far, the ICC has indicated more than 40 individuals for alleged atrocities with several convictions. Many victims have participated in the Court’s proceedings and benefit from the ICC reparations regime.
Committed to the fight against impunity for atrocity crimes that threaten the peace, security and well-being of the world, in accordance with the Rome Statute and for the critical role it plays in fostering the international rule of law, the ICC will be presented with the 2017 Stockholm Human Rights Award on Monday 20 November 2017 at Berwaldhallen, Dag Hammarskjölds väg 3, Stockholm, Sweden.
Past recipients of the Stockholm Human Rights Award:
• 2016 Mary Robinson
• 2015 Prince Zeid Raʿad Zeid Al-Hussein
• 2014 B’Tselem
• 2013 Professor M. Cherif Bassiouni
• 2012 Thomas Hammarberg and European Roma Rights Centre
• 2011 George Soros and Aryeh Neier
• 2010 Navi Pillay
• 2009 Richard Goldstone
For further information on the Stockholm Human Rights Award, please contact
Vanessa Passos, Digital Communications Officer, International Legal Assistance Consortium (ILAC)
E-mail: vanessa.passos.araujo@ilac.se
www.stockholmhumanrightsaward.org