Assembly/AU/Dec.493(XXII) Page 1 DECISION ON THE PROGRESS REPORT OF THE COMMISSION ON THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE DECISIONS ON THE INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT Doc. Assembly/AU/13(XXII) The Assembly, 1. TAKES NOTE of the Progress Report of the Commission on the implementation of the Assembly Decisions on the International Criminal Court (ICC) and ENDORSES the recommendations contained therein; 2. REITERATES the unflinching commitment of the African Union and its Member States to combating impunity and promoting democracy, the rule of law and good governance throughout the entire continent, in conformity with the Constitutive Act of the African Union; 3. COMMENDS Member States which are parties to the Rome Statute of ICC for the unity of action demonstrated at the last Assembly of States Parties in the Hague in November 2013; 4. THANKS the Member State of the United Nations Security Council that supported the request of Kenya and the African Union to defer the proceedings initiated by the ICC against the President and Deputy President of the Republic of Kenya in accordance with Article 16 of the Rome Statute of ICC; 5. ALSO THANKS members of the Contact Group and the African Group in New York for their action in support of the African request; 6. EXPRESSES its deep disappointment that the request by Kenya supported by AU, to the United Nations (UN) Security Council to defer the proceedings initiated against the President and Deputy President of the Republic of Kenya in accordance with Article 16 of the Rome Statute of ICC on deferral of cases by the UN Security Council, has not yield the positive result expected; 7. ALSO EXPRESSES its deep disappointment that the request by the African Union to the UN Security Council to defer the proceedings initiated against the President of the Republic of The Sudan in accordance with Article 16 of the Rome Statute of ICC on deferral of cases by the UN Security Council, has not been acted upon to date; 8. STRESSES the need for the UN Security Council to reserve a timely and appropriate response to requests made by the AU on deferral in accordance with Article 16 of the Rome Statute under Chapter VII of the UN Charter so as to avoid the sense of lack of consideration of a whole continent; 9. DECIDES that the African Union and its Member States, in particular the African States Parties to the Rome Statute, reserve the right to take any further decisions or measures that may be necessary in order to preserve and