Paul Kehoe (Wexford, Fine Gael)
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Question 86: To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs the number of present signatories to the charter of the International Criminal Court; the position of Ireland with regard to the non-signatory status of a number of countries, including the United States of America; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19584/06]

Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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The Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court entered into force on 1 July 2002 and to date has been ratified or acceded to by 100 states. An additional 43 states have signed the Statute, subject to ratification.

The Government are committed to the effective functioning of the Court and support efforts to ensure the widest possible ratification and implementation of its Statute.

Together with our partners in the European Union, Ireland has been a consistent and strong supporter of the ICC, recognising it as an essential means to combating impunity for the most serious violations of international humanitarian and human rights law. This position has been recognised in the EU Common Position last updated in June 2003.

The 2003 Common Position commits the Union and its Member States to support the effective functioning of the Court, and to advance universal support for it by promoting the widest possible participation in the Rome Statute. In February 2004 a detailed Action Plan on the implementation of the 2003 Common Position was adopted under the auspices of the Irish Presidency of the EU.

In addition to their efforts to promote ratifications, the EU and its Member States have been generous supporters of initiatives to promote the Court in third states, as well as to strengthen the capacity of states to cooperate with the Court. For example, in February of this year, Ireland co-sponsored a three-day conference aimed at promoting ratification of the ICC among Arab states. The conference, held in Amman, Jordan, was attended by representatives from Iraq, Oman, Qatar, Syria, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Yemen, all of which have yet to ratify the Rome Statute.

The United States objects to the ICC principally on the basis that the independence of the ICC Prosecutor endangers US citizens, and particularly US military forces, to politically motivated prosecutions before the Court. While recognising its concerns, neither Ireland, nor our EU partners, share the United States' view toward the Court.

A number of approaches have been made to the US on behalf of the EU, outlining the EU position on the Court and urging US support for it. Most recently, a démarche on behalf of the EU took place in December 2005, at which the EU's strong political support for the ICC was underlined and a number of matters related to the Court were discussed.

Such discussions are in line with the EU Council Conclusions on the ICC of 30 September 2002, which recall the shared objective of the EU and the US of individual accountability for the most serious crimes of concern to the international community, and call for a broader dialogue between the EU and US on all matters relating to the ICC.