GENERAL ASSEMBLY PROPOSAL
ID: railana_1420903379
On Universal Jurisdiction
A resolution to improve worldwide human and civil rights.
Category: Human Rights
Strength: Significant
Proposed by: Railana
Description: Recognizing the moral depravity of war crimes and crimes against humanity,
Believing that such crimes are so heinous that the international community bears a collective responsibility to bring those who are guilty of such crimes to justice,
Concerned, however, about the potential lack of accountability and abuses of power associated with granting criminal jurisdiction to an international court,
Convinced, therefore, that the best means to fulfill this responsibility is to grant individual World Assembly member states the right and obligation to prosecute such individuals,
The General Assembly,
Defines "universal jurisdiction" as the right to claim criminal jurisdiction for a crime allegedly committed by an individual, regardless of where or when the crime was allegedly committed, or the citizenship, nationality, or country of residence of that individual,
Declares that all World Assembly member states have the right to claim universal jurisdiction with respect to the following crimes:
systematic murder, enslavement, arbitrary deportation or imprisonment, torture, rape or forced sterilization committed against a civilian population,
systematic persecution or destruction of any group of individuals sharing a common identifiable characteristic, such as race, ethnicity or religion,
mistreatment of civilian populations or prisoners of war during wartime,
wanton killing or destruction of property during wartime that is not justified by military necessity,
any other act that constitutes a "crime against humanity" or a "war crime" under World Assembly legislation, or for which universal jurisdiction is implicitly or explicitly recognized under World Assembly legislation;
Requires member states to safely and fairly prosecute individuals suspected of committing a crime listed in section 2 in cases where:
the individual is within the territorial jurisdiction of that member state,
the individual has not already been given a fair trial for that crime by another state, and
there is evidence which would lead a reasonably intelligent but cautious person to believe that the individual is guilty of that crime;
Directs member states to ensure that the severity of the sentence assigned to an individual following a conviction for a crime listed in section 2 of this resolution is consistent with the severity of their crime;
Strongly encourages member states to volunteer any evidence in their possession relevant to the prosecution of an individual for a crime listed in section 2 of this resolution to the state engaged in such prosecution;
Permits member states to transfer an individual subject to prosecution under section 3 of this resolution to the jurisdiction of another member state that is able and willing to safely and fairly prosecute that individual for the same alleged crime or crimes;
Forbids the World Assembly from preempting a member state's claim to universal jurisdiction under this resolution, including but not limited to through an international criminal court or a substantially similar institution, to the extent permitted by this and previous World Assembly resolutions;
Clarifies that nothing in this resolution grants member states the right to claim universal jurisdiction over individuals that are not currently within the member state's territorial jurisdiction;
Further clarifies that nothing in this resolution precludes the World Assembly from passing further legislation on criminal jurisdiction, international police or judicial cooperation, or extradition.
I fully support this legislation. The original ICC was a travesty and this would ensure that the mistakes of the past are much harder to repeat.
I strenuously suggest everyone vote in favor of this.