Mr. President, Yours Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,
I would like to begin by thanking the Italian government for hosting this conference. It is an honour for my government to participate. Our presence here today shows that we support the establishment of a permanent international criminal court.

The end of the Cold War saw the intensifications of international and internal conflicts with disastrous effects on victims and survivors. Today we have before us a great. opportunity: the opportunity to finally perform our duty and summon the courage to punish the perpetrators of these atrocities on a universal basis.

Sierra Leone is calling for a fair, effective, independent, impartial, and unfettered international criminal court. The task before us is not an easy one. Several issues remain unsettled and agreement still needs to be reached on the very principles upon which establishment of a fair and effective Court depends.

The success of this diplomatic conference strongly lies with our ability and effort to guarantee the independence of the ICC. It is imperative that the Court have inherent jurisdiction and that the Prosecutor be empowered to initiate investigations propio motu. If this principle is not accepted, then the consequence will be to subordinate the court to a generalized veto power---a result that is clearly unappealing and unacceptable. The Prosecutor must be able to receive information from victims, intergovemtmental and non-governmental organizations to trigger investigations and prosecutions. The ICC must be sensitive to and respect the rights of victims of these atrocious crimes.
 

In addition to genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity, the Court should have jurisdiction* over the crime of aggression. But first and foremost, there must be agreement on the definition of the crime. It is important that the Security Council be able to refer situations to the Court, however, the Court must not be subordinated to Security Council vetoes. Also the Security Council must not unilaterally cause indeterminate delays to the court's proceedings.

States cooperation is a prerequisite for the success of the Court and must be full and prompt. Without the commitment by State parties to cooperate, it will be difficult to carry out the arrest and transfer of persons to the court, the gathering of evidence and on-site investigations, and the protection of victims and witnesses.

The trials must be conducted in a speedy and just manner, because we all know that justice delayed is justice denied.

Funding of the International Criminal Court is another key issue where independence has to be assured. Insufficient funding would restrict the effective functioning of the court. Also the Court's independence would be weakened by the acceptance of any State funding option since the Court would have to rely on economically better off States. Considering that state funding would also be likely to discourage ratifications and would unevenly hit smaller and less developed countries, the best solution financing the Court out of the United Nations budget.

As you all know, my country for the past seven years has been undergoing a gruelling rebel war carried out by an organization called the Revolutionary United Front. In the midst of this rebel war, on the 25th of May 1997, just one year after the democratic election of President Kabbah, the armed forces staged a bloody coup, aggravating the situation further. Despite the restoration of the democratically elected Government and constitutional order by ECOMOG, gross violations of human rights are still taking place by the RUF and AFRC remnants. The targets of the rebels attacks have been innocent civilians. They have been cutting off people's hands, arms and ears and plucking out peoples' eyes. The rebels have also confined people in their houses and then set the villages alight. Women have suffered brutal attacks of rape and of having their wombs cut open by the rebels to see the gender of the unborn child. Children have suffered tremendously and have been forcefully conscripted to serve as soldiers in the rebel forces, sometimes at the tender age of only seven. They have been drugged and then put on the front lines. When the rebels attack villages, they kidnap young girls from their families and schools and have forced into prostitution. As the UNHCR Assistant High Commissioner Mr. Jessen-Peterson said when he recently visited my country, "Those who turn their weapons against innocent civilians in this way are cowards and barbarians and should be brought to trial."

We believe that if an ICC had been established, then those persons responsible for these crimes that have escaped or who may escape the jurisdiction of Sierra Leone would not go with impunity. An independent Court would represent an invaluable step towards a new international order, where human rights are adequately protected. My government calls on every nation participating in this diplomatic conference to cooperate to finalize this statute. National legislators must ensure the ratification of this treaty after we sign it on the 17th June. It would not only be a testimony of the common desire to overcome long neglected failures of national legal systems, but a unique chance to contribute to international stability, deterrence and hopefully prevention of these atrocious crimes.