The ICC can only investigate and prosecute crimes committed after 1 July 2002.
The ability of the ICC to act is also limited, to some degree, by whether a state has ratified the Statute - this is the reason that Amnesty International is calling on all states to ratify. The Court will only be able to carry out investigations and prosecutions if the crime was committed on the territory of a state which has ratified; or, the state makes a declaration that it accepts the Court=s jurisdiction over the crime; or; the accused person is the national of a state that has ratified. In addition, an important provision gives the Security Council the authority to refer any situation to the ICC - regardless of whether a state has ratified - if it considers it a threat to international peace and security.
The Rome Statute makes clear that state officials, no matter what their rank or position, have no immunity for these crimes.
The crime of genocide is defined in the same terms as the Genocide Convention of 1948, that is killings and other acts "committed with the intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group."
The ability of the ICC to act is also limited, to some degree, by whether a state has ratified the Statute - this is the reason that Amnesty International is calling on all states to ratify. The Court will only be able to carry out investigations and prosecutions if the crime was committed on the territory of a state which has ratified; or, the state makes a declaration that it accepts the Court=s jurisdiction over the crime; or; the accused person is the national of a state that has ratified. In addition, an important provision gives the Security Council the authority to refer any situation to the ICC - regardless of whether a state has ratified - if it considers it a threat to international peace and security.
The Rome Statute makes clear that state officials, no matter what their rank or position, have no immunity for these crimes.
The crime of genocide is defined in the same terms as the Genocide Convention of 1948, that is killings and other acts "committed with the intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group."