In a Training Workshop organized by CIHRS: Priority of establishing a National Alliance for the International Criminal court

Press Release

On 14-15 September, Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies (CIHRS) organized a training workshop on the “International Criminal Court”. 25 human rights institutions participated in the workshop. Moreover, a distinguished panel of human rights activists and International Criminal Law experts lectured in the workshop.

The workshop tackled two main themes, namely: the nature of the International Criminal Court and its significance as one of the major developments for achieving international criminal justice; and the Arab stance and the Egyptian stance in particular on the International Criminal Court. The workshop concluded the significance of giving priority to launching a national alliance for the International Criminal Court, with open membership not limited to the Egyptian civil society institutions, but flexible to include individuals membership.

The final recommendations outlined an agenda for such an alliance including three major themes:
First: Encourage the Egyptian government to accede to the International Criminal Court and to work on modifying the Egyptian legal legislations to cope with the Statute of the International Criminal Court. On the other hand, the Egyptian government is urged to clarify the essence of the bilateral US-Egyptian agreement on not referring American citizens to the International Criminal Court.
Second: Conduct workshops and training courses targeting various sectors of the Egyptian society e.g. the NGOs, syndicates, parties and the media to introduce the International Criminal Court and the nature of its role.
Third: Work on communicating with the international, regional and national alliances for the Criminal Court and following up the annual meetings of the Member States Association to get closely introduced to the major challenges confronting the processes of the International Criminal Court.
The Egyptian Organization for Human Rights, on its part, proposed to take the initiative soon of calling the Egyptian civil society institutions to hold a preparatory meeting to declare the said alliance.