Assembly/AU/11 (XIII)
Annex II
Page 9
R4. Those Member States of the AU and EU which have persons suspected of
serious crimes of international concern within their custody or territory
should promptly institute criminal proceedings against these persons, unless
they decide to extradite them to the state in the territory of which the relevant
conduct is alleged to have occurred (the ‘territorial state’), the state of
nationality of the suspect (the ‘suspect’s national state’) or the state of
nationality of the victims (the ‘victims’ national state’) on the condition that
the latter state is willing and able to conduct a fair trial consistent with
international human rights standards and to ensure respect for the
internationally-guaranteed human rights of detainees.
R5. In order to help ensure respect for the rights of detainees, those Member
States of the AU and EU which are states parties to the Convention against
Torture 1984 should fully implement the Convention in their respective
national legal orders. Those AU and EU Member States which have not yet
become parties to the Convention should be encouraged to do so and to
accept the right of individual communication to the UN Committee against
Torture.
R6. When exercising universal jurisdiction over serious crimes of international
concern such as genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and torture,
states should bear in mind the need to avoid impairing friendly international
relations.
R7. Where national criminal justice authorities have initiated investigations and
collected compelling evidence of serious crimes of international concern
allegedly committed abroad against non-nationals by non-nationals, and
where the suspect is a foreign state official exercising a representative
function on behalf of his or her state, these authorities should consider
refraining from taking steps that might publicly and unduly expose the
suspects, thereby discrediting and stigmatizing them, curtailing their right to
be presumed innocent until found guilty by a court of law and hampering the
discharge of their official functions.
R8. Those national criminal justice authorities considering exercising universal
jurisdiction over persons suspected of serious crimes of international
concern are legally bound to take into account all the immunities to which
foreign state officials may be entitled under international law and are
consequently obliged to refrain from prosecuting those officials entitled to
such immunities.
R9. In prosecuting serious crimes of international concern, states should, as a
matter of policy, accord priority to territoriality as a basis of jurisdiction, since
such crimes, while offending against the international community as a whole
by infringing universal values, primarily injure the community where they
have been perpetrated and violate not only the rights of the victims but also
the general demand for order and security in that community. In addition, it
is within the territory of the state of alleged commission that the bulk of the
Version 31 March 09(FINAL)