UN General Assembly
2012

very encouraged by the strong response to my call for coordinated action when needed. In adopting the Rome Statute, we have not just set up an international tribunal located in The Hague. We have also created a global system to fight impunity, which assigns a strong role to States. It also offers the Security Council an important role, if it chooses to play it. Political support is particularly required where investigations are based on referrals from the Security Council. The obligation for the State in question to cooperate is based entirely on the Security Council’s authority, not on the Rome Statute. The Council must therefore play a key role in ensuring that such cooperation is forthcoming. We as States are also responsible for ensuring that indicted individuals are arrested and transferred to the Court. Clearly, we must do better in that regard. We are also being given a historic opportunity both for the Court and for the United Nations: for the first time since the end of the Second World War, we can