We need a new form of deterrence against such forms of behaviour. And if its power to deter the abuse of people fails, the Statute provides both a basis and a structure to take concrete legal action to redress injustice. The ICC Statute provides us with a unique opportunity to fix one of the worst failings of the international system. I appeal to every government here that has not done so, to sign the Rome Statute by December and to ratify it on an urgent basis, so that the world's people can finally have the justice they deserve. Mr. President, You can see that Canada is seeking to systematically put in place the building blocks for a new type of international system - one that is inspired and guided by the UN Charter, but that is also prepared to deal with the underside and underworld of globalization.
Prevention is the best sort of intervention.
Many would sweep it under the rug entirely as too divisive, too difficult, too damaging to the status quo. Rwanda, Cambodia, Srebrenica, Kosovo - it would be easy to pretend that the humanitarian tragedies associated with these places are a thing of the past. Easy, but wrong. There is no certainty that similar atrocities will not happen again. Indeed, the opposite is more likely.