WE THE PROSECUTORS AND PARTICIPANTS OF THE 7TH COLLOQUIUM OF INTERNATIONAL PROSECUTORS HELD UNDER THE AUSPICES OF THE INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL TRIBUNAL FOR RWANDA (ICTR) IN ARUSHA, TANZANIA
TAKING NOTE of the 20th anniversary of the Rwandan genocide of 1994 and of the 20th anniversary of the establishment by the United Nations of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR);
EMPHASISING the importance of accountability for international crimes, which are gross violations of human rights, in the interests of justice, peace, security, and the well-being of the world, as well as the role and responsibility of the international community in ensuring such accountability;
WELCOMING the efforts of the international community and the contribution of the international and hybrid courts and tribunals as well as national judicial and other authorities in combating impunity for international crimes and ensuring justice and accountability;
RECOGNISING the need for effective partnership and enhanced synergies between local and international justice efforts in order to secure, in a comprehensive manner, accountability for international crimes;
RECALLING the primary responsibility of States to investigate and prosecute such crimes and the need for them to take effective measures to ensure the full discharge of that responsibility, including through the provision of conditions which, inter alia, support an impartial judiciary and an independent, effective and well-resourced prosecution and defence;
RECALLING further that it is incumbent on the international community to foster conditions necessary to enable genuine, fair and effective national prosecutions in communities affected by mass criminality;
NOW THEREFORE
CALL ON the international community together with national authorities to provide adequate support to the ad hoc international and hybrid tribunals, their respective residual mechanisms and the International Criminal Court (ICC) to enable them to fully implement their critical independent mandates;
REQUEST the international and hybrid tribunals to intensify their work on best practices and lessons learned and projects for the compilation and sharing of such lessons and practices, so as to provide guidance in the local and international prosecution of international crimes, and for the international community to support such projects;
FURTHER REQUEST States, in particular judicial and other national authorities, to share experiences, practices and lessons to assist in the prosecution of international crimes and in doing so draw from the experience of international courts and tribunals;
CALL ON all States to adopt appropriate measures and strategies to end impunity and thereby contribute to the prevention of the commission of international crimes, including through the creation and support of the necessary conditions for justice, and respect for human rights within their jurisdictions;
FURTHER CALL ON all States to ensure the adequacy of their laws and legal systems to enable them to discharge effectively and fairly their primary responsibility for the investigation and prosecution of international crimes through, inter alia, the ratification of relevant international treaties and the adoption of implementing legislation;
URGE the international community to establish and support existing effective mechanisms for the training of personnel and capacity building of local systems for the prosecution of international crimes and for supporting local prosecution of such crimes to ensure effective compliance with international standards;
FURTHER URGE the international community to provide adequate support to States to enable them to implement necessary measures to empower their legal systems to prosecute such crimes;
CALL on the international community and national authorities to deploy greater efforts to ensure effective accountability for all international crimes.
DONE AT ARUSHA, TANZANIA, THIS 5TH DAY OF NOVEMBER 2014
