Assembly/AU/11 (XIII)
Annex II
Page 7
request under article 89(1) for the surrender of a person to the Court if this
would require the requested state to act inconsistently with its obligations
under international law with respect to the state or diplomatic immunity of a
person or property of a third state, unless the Court can first obtain the
cooperation of that third state for the waiver of the immunity.
(d) The Key Points AU-EU Concern over Universal Jurisdiction
The points of concern over Universal Jurisdiction were equally different between the
two areas i.e. Africa and Europe as shown below:
(i) African concerns
1. African states welcome the principle of universal jurisdiction, and are
committed to addressing impunity, as shown by Article 4(h) of Constitutive
Act of the African Union 2000 and as emphasized in subsequent AU
decisions. Article 4(h) of the Constitutive Act, in laying down the right of the
AU to intervene in a Member State pursuant to a decision of the Assembly
in respect of grave circumstances, namely war crimes, genocide and
crimes against humanity, amounts to a statement that impunity for these
crimes is unacceptable to AU Member States. But there are national legal
and institutional constraints on the capacity of many African states to
address these crimes and to prosecute perpetrators of them.
Consideration should be given to building the national legal capacity of
African states to combat genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes
and torture.
2. As some members of International Law Commission have observed,
assertion by national courts of the principle of universal jurisdiction has led
to misunderstandings and to aggravation of inter-state tensions, and has
given rise to perceptions of abuse on political or other grounds. African
states take the view that they have been singularly targeted in the
indictment and arrest of their officials and that the exercise of universal
jurisdiction by European states is politically selective against them. This
raises a concern over double standards, and the concern is heightened by
multiple charges being brought against officials of African states in the
jurisdictions of different European states. The African perception is that the
majority of indictees are sitting officials of African states, and the
indictments against such officials have profound implications for relations
between African and European states, including the legal responsibility of
the relevant European states. As one leader of a European state has
intimated, the powers of investigative judges relating to indictments against
officials of foreign states need to be reviewed by amending the relevant
legislation.
(ii) European Concerns
1. It is apparent to the independent experts appointed by the EU that Member
States of the EU, like African states, view the exercise of universal
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