This document sets out AI’s arguments for the establishment of a permanent international criminal court. Although the founders of the UN recognized almost 50 years ago that such a court was an essential element in building respect for human rights throughout the world, the court was never set up. In recent years, public outrage about atrocities in the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda has encouraged progress towards the establishment of a permanent international criminal court: the UN-appointed International Law Commission (ILC) has completed a draft statue. AI is campaigning for this court to be established no later than 24 October 1996. As well as setting out the case for a permanent international criminal court, this report also outlines the characteristics of such a court, discussing, inter alia, the crimes covered, the personnel required and the mechanism for bringing cases.
