Niger to hand over Boko Haram militants to ICC ---President Issoufou
(Nigeria) The Niger Government has arrested scores of Boko
Haram militants and would hand them over to the International Criminal Court, ICC,
President Mahamadou Issoufou, has said.
According to a document from the World Humanitarian Summit,
ongoing in Istanbul, Turkey, it
indicated that Issoufou made this known on Tuesday during a high-level leaders’
round table titled “Uphold the Norms that Safeguard Humanity”.
He said the Nigerien government would ensure the militants
are tried by the ICC.
"This is something that all countries should do,” he
said.
The best way to protect civilians, he added, was to ratify
humanitarian conventions.
``Political, military and administrative authorities must be
aware of pledges made by Governments and of the sanctions provided for under
those conventions.''
Issoufou added that all countries must take on commitments
to strengthen respect for international humanitarian law and human rights
instruments, as well as guarantee that populations in need received
humanitarian aid.
He said that Niger faced multiple humanitarian issues,
including population displacement due to terrorists attacks.
The president said Niger had ratified the Geneva Conventions
and the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.
Also speaking, UN Deputy Secretary-General Ján Eliasson
said: “International humanitarian law and human rights are under assault around
the world.”
Eliasson said that civilians were being indiscriminately
killed, while summary executions, arbitrary detention, forced disappearances
and torture were daily realities.
"Lives are being shattered by sexual violence. Indeed, more than 150 years of achievements
to protect the most vulnerable during conflict were unravelling. The Geneva Conventions seem to have been
forgotten,” he said.
He called on UN Member States to promote respect for
international law, enhance protection of civilians, allow unimpeded
humanitarian access to those in need and condemn violations of international
law.
For its part, he said, the UN is committed to speaking out
against those abuses, strengthening the Human Rights Up Front Initiative and
working to ensure that perpetrators were held to account and victims
compensated.
Other speakers agreed that upholding humanitarian law was
the cornerstone of effective humanitarian assistance, with several underscoring
their commitment to the Agenda for Humanity.
They said that rules were being violated and called for
compliance with international law and accountability.
For some, that meant respecting Security Council resolution
2175 (2014) on the protection of humanitarian workers and resolution 2286
(2016) on the protection of medical and humanitarian personnel engaged in
medical duties.
In this regard, Mr Jose Margallo, Minister for Foreign
Affairs and Cooperation of Spain, supported the proposal by France and Mexico
to limit veto use in the Security Council in cases of the most serious crimes.
Also speaking, Mr Pietro Parolin, Secretary of State of the
Holy See, condemned all violence against women, especially systematic rape used
as a tactic of war or terror.
Parolin said that the Holy See was committed to promoting
the principle that humanitarian assistance must always be guaranteed as a
life-saving necessity.
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