04.09.07 - JUSTICE/PROSECUTION - THE PROSECUTORS ADOPT A JOINT DECLARATION IN CHAUTAUQUA

The Assembled International Prosecutors, both Past and Present
Celebrating the 100th anniversary of the Hague Rules of 1907;
Remembering the legacy of our Nuremberg colleagues;
Recalling the principles of Nuremberg;
Noting the importance of the rule of law in facing down impunity;
Understanding the need for a family of nations united for peace;
Appreciating that the legal tools are now in place to prosecute those
who bear the greatest responsibility;
Aware of the need to seek justice efficiently and effectively.
Noting that international humanitarian law still remains the
cornerstone to controlling international and internal armed
conflict;
Recognizing that both truth and justice create sustainable peace;
Highlighting that justice is not an impediment to peace, but in fact is its
most certain guarantor.
Now do solemnly declare to the world
That ending impunity by perpetrators of crimes of concern to the international community is a necessary part of preventing the recurrence of atrocities.
That it is no longer about whether individuals agree or disagree with the pursuit of justice in political, moral or practical terms; now, it is the law.  
That the challenge for States and for the international community is to fulfill the promise of the law they created; to enforce judicial decisions; to ensure the arrest and
surrender of sought individuals, and in that light;
 
That Ratko Mladic, Radovan Karadzic, Felician Kabuga, Joseph Kony, leader of the Lord's Resistance Army in Uganda, Ahmed Harun, the Sudanese Minister who organized the system of persecution
and attacks against the civilians in Darfur, and all others not listed here and are sought by international justice, be arrested and surrendered to the appropriate court, tribunal or chamber;
 
That States are reminded of the words of Martin Luther King Jr. that "the arc of moral justice is long but it bends towards justice".
 
That the world community take note of the words of Justice Robert H. Jackson at Nuremberg: "We are able to do away with domestic tyranny and violence and aggression by those in power against the rights of their own people only when we make all men answerable to the law."
 
Signed in mutual witness : David M. Crane, Special Court for Sierra Leone, Sir Desmond DeSilva, QC Special Court for Sierra Leone, Whitney Harris, International Military Tribunal
Nuremberg, Hassan Jallow, International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, Henry King, International Military Tribunal Nuremberg, Luis Moreno-Ocampo, International Criminal Court, Robert Petit, Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia, Stephen J. Rapp, Special Court for Sierra Leone, David Tolbert, International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia.
 
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