Topic: Universal Jurisdiction in Crimes against Humanity
Country: Iraq
Delegate Name: Elizabeth Caldwell
School: Ann Arbor Community High School
Topic page: background guide and all position papers All Iraq position papers GLIMUN 2011 committees
The Republic of Iraq is invested in the idea that crimes against humanity have the ultimate judicial freedom of prosecution from any nation against any citizen. This belief stems from the fact that these crimes are part of a universal jurisdiction system, so any country may try a criminal who has committed crimes against humanity as stated by The Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court in the 5th Article of Part 2 “The jurisdiction of the Court shall be limited to the most serious crimes of concern to the international community as a whole. The Court has jurisdiction in accordance with this Statute with respect to the following crimes:(a) The crime of genocide;(b) Crimes against humanity;(c) War crimes;(d) The crime of aggression.” The fact that crimes against humanity even exist appalls Iraq. Iraq firmly believes in justice dealt to any of the world’s citizens from crimes that harm any of the people of a sovereign nation.
The fact remains, however, that universal jurisdiction is no longer used in the manner for which it was intended. The stage of international politics has affected universal jurisdiction in a negative fashion, which prevents these issues from coming to the attention of the world.
One of Iraq’s recent attempts to seek justice for crimes against humanity was brutally dismissed under the political influence directed towards The Kingdom of Spain by another sovereign nation. We do not blame Spain for its inability to act but Iraq does insist that matters of universal jurisdiction of crimes against humanity be an aspect of The International Criminal Court that is unaffected by outside influence from other nations.
If the courts that seek justice can become so affected that they are unable to perform their duties, than the very idea of universal jurisdiction is a moot point. Iraq stands firmly behind the idea of universal jurisdiction of crimes against humanity in the untarnished and uninfluenced political stance of being capable of bringing such heinous criminals to justice without the influence of outside influences upon the courts.
