Talk Radio News Service: News, Politics, Media

Christian Wenewaser, Ambassador of Liechtenstein and President of the Assembly of States Parties for the International Criminal Court (ICC) sat down with TRNS this afternoon to give us an update on the recent actions of the court. There has been a lot of movement taken this week as a criminal court sentenced a Sudanese man, Mohammed Al-Sirri, to 17 years in prison after convicting him on Wednesday of spying for the ICC. Al-Sirri's evidence into the Darfur conflict could lead to an arrest warrant for President Omar al-Bashir.

Al-Sirri is the first Sudanese to face charges at home of collaborating with the ICC court in The Hague and its investigation into Darfur crimes. The United Nations says up to 300,000 people have been killed in the six-year old conflict with over 2.7 million people displaced.

Wenaweser said that the ICC has just received the information on Al-Sirri's arrest. "it is a disturbing development and not unheard of that witnesses are intimidated, harassed and incarcerated. We will certainly look into it."

From the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the trial of Thomas Lubanga Dyilo, opened on Monday 26 January 2009 before Trial Chamber I of the International Criminal Court. Lubanga is the first person to have been surrendered to the Court since its inception. He is accused of having committed severe war crimes consisting of enlisting and conscripting of children under the age of 15 years into the Forces patriotiques pour la libération du Congo [Patriotic Forces for the Liberation of Congo] (FPLC), and using them to participate actively in hostilities. He has been awaiting trial since 2006 on charges of recruiting child soldiers as young as ten years old. He is also accused of commanding the Union of Congolese Patriots which committed atrocities in an ethnic conflict in which thousands were killed.

The case is the first to have come to trial since the ICC was created ten years ago as the world's only permanent war crimes tribunal and the proceedings are being closely watched by legal experts and potential defendants, as well as countries yet to sign up to the court such as the US, Russia, India and China.

Wenaweser said Lubanga's trial is a very important moment for the ICC. "It is the first trial and was significantly delayed due to technical and procedural difficulties. I hope it will be an efficient and speedy trial that comes to a conclusion very quickly. It will set an important backdrop to what is happening today in the Congo."

There are a total of 18 judges who serve on the ICC. The final replacement judges were selected to fill expired seats last week. "It is significant change to have one third of the judges replaced. There is a change in the dynamic within the court as we are losing the experience of judges, but with that, new people are coming in with a fresh perspective," Wenaweser added.

Mr. Wenaweser was very involved in drafting the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. In September 2003, he was designated as Chairman of the Special Working Group on the Crime of Aggression.
Wenaweser will focus in the coming weeks on the working group meetings to more actively include crimes of aggression in the Rome Statute of the ICC. From 9-13 February, a working group will be tasked to bring together evidence leading up to the next review conference of the ICC in 2010 in Kampala, Uganda.

"I am here at an interesting time. This year, we have trials and big cases. I believe the defendants should be convicted if found guilty . The ICC is essential as the court sets up trials according to international standards and works to efficiently and effectively get a fair verdict. So far, this has been a court without trials."