OTP delegation to visit Guinea

From 19 to 21 May 2010, a delegation from the Office of the Prosecutor (OTP) of the International Criminal Court (ICC) will be in Guinea to follow up on the mission carried out by the Deputy Prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda, in February this year. The OTP made public its preliminary examination in Guinea in October 2009. At the same time the international community unanimously called for accountability either through ICC or Guinean proceedings. Since then, the OTP has benefited from the full support of Guinean authorities as well as Regional and International Organizations. The purpose of this second visit is to liaise with Guinean judicial authorities and gather updated information on the on-going national investigation into the events of 28 September 2009.

Guinea has been a State Party to the Rome Statute since 14 July 2003. As such the ICC has jurisdiction over war crimes, crimes against humanity or genocide possibly committed in the territory of Guinea or by nationals of Guinea. Other situations under preliminary examination by the Office include Afghanistan, Colombia, Côte d’Ivoire, Georgia, and Palestine.

The Office of the Prosecutor is currently investigating in five situations: The Democratic Republic of Congo, Northern Uganda, the Darfur region of Sudan, the Central African Republic and the Republic of Kenya; all still engulfed in various degrees of conflict with victims in urgent need of protection.

The International Criminal Court is an independent, permanent court that investigates and prosecutes persons accused of the most serious crimes of international concern, namely genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes if national authorities with jurisdiction are unwilling or unable to do so genuinely.

For more information, please contact:
OTP Public Information Officer
Florence Olara
[email protected]
+31 (0) 70 515 8723 (office)
+31 (0) 6 5029 4476 (mobile)

Source: Office of the Prosecutor