79th Session of the United Nations General Assembly
Agenda Item 74 “The Report of the International Criminal Court”
Statement delivered by H.E. Rein Tammsaar, Permanent Representative of Estonia on behalf of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania
New York, 28 October 2024
President,
Distinguished delegates,
I have the honour to speak on behalf of the three Baltic States – Latvia, Lithuania and my own country Estonia. The Baltic States align with the statement made by the European Union and its Member States.
First of all, we would like to congratulate six new judges, President and Vice-Presidents of the International Criminal Court on their elections. We wish them every success in their important work.
The Baltic States stress the invaluable role of the ICC in combating impunity for the most serious crimes that concern the international community as a whole and in maintaining peace and security. We note that the activities of the ICC concern different regions around the world, and its report presents a comprehensive overview of its efforts during the reporting period.
We fully endorse the ICC’s efforts to ensure independent and effective investigations into international crimes, including those committed by Russian forces and authorities. We commend the continued efforts of the ICC regarding the investigation of the “Situation in Ukraine” and for issuing six arrest warrants, including against Vladimir Putin. We urge the ICC to persist in bringing the perpetrators of war crimes and crimes against humanity, committed in Ukraine, to justice.
The Baltic States support Ukraine in establishing a Special Tribunal for the Crime of Aggression against Ukraine, and it remains high on the agenda for our governments. We believe that the Tribunal should enjoy broad cross-regional support to guarantee its legitimacy. Moreover, for maintaining multilateral world order based on International Law and principles of the UN Charter, it is important that the Tribunal can ensure the accountability of Russian political and military leadership.
The success of the ICC in fulfilling its mandate is heavily dependent on the cooperation of its States Parties. As indicated in the report, there are currently 20 arrest warrants that should be executed. All States Parties must fully support and engage with the ICC, and comply with the obligation to cooperate, and thus to execute the arrest warrants. We regret that there have been cases of non-compliance with such obligation that have seriously undermined the ICC’s ability to fulfil its mandate. Moreover, we should avoid unnecessary contacts with persons who are the subject of arrest warrants or summonses issued by the ICC.
The Trust Fund for Victims plays a crucial role in delivering justice to victims, their families, and communities in implementing the ICC’s reparation orders. We have consistently contributed financially to this Fund and encourage all States and stakeholders to do the same so that the Trust Fund can fully implement its mandate.
It is important that the Rome Statute becomes a truly universal instrument to increase its effectiveness in the global fight against impunity. We call upon all States, that have not yet done so, to ratify the Rome Statute and its amendments, including the amendments on the crime of aggression. Similarly, we support ongoing process of amending the Rome Statute with the view giving the Court the same jurisdiction for the crime of aggression as for other three categories of international crimes. The Baltic States warmly welcome Armenia as the 124th State Party to the Rome Statute and look forward to Ukraine soon becoming the 125th State Party after depositing its instrument of ratification.
The ICC should be able to fulfil its mandate independently and impartially without any outside threat, interference, or pressure. We deplore all activities and attempts to hinder the ICC’s work, be it cyber-attacks, imposition of sanctions or threats of their implementation, or issuing arrest warrants against the judges, prosecutor, or personnel of the ICC as it infringes on independence and impartiality of the Court. The State Parties to the Rome Statute should stay united in their unwavering support for the ICC. Once again, the Baltic States call on the Security Council to use their prerogative of referring situations of mass atrocities to the ICC, and to refrain from using a veto in these situations. We remind that the UN Charter provides the Security Council the particular responsibility for maintaining peace and security.
Finally, we welcome the referral of Lithuania to the ICC requesting the Prosecutor to investigate alleged crimes against humanity committed in the Republic of Belarus.
Time is ripe to take a decisive step to prosecute the perpetrators of international crimes. We need to make sure that justice will be ensured and international law will prevail.
Thank you.