WRITTEN QUESTION E-0390/02 by Charles Tannock (PPE-DE) to the Council. Inclusion or non-inclusion of terrorist acts under the provisions of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.
Date: 2002-02-22
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: International Criminal Court, crime against humanity, terrorism

26.9.2002

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 229 E/85

(2002/C 229 E/094)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0390/02

by Charles Tannock (PPE-DE) to the Council

(22 February 2002)

Subject: Inclusion or non-inclusion of terrorist acts under the provisions of the Rome Statute of the

International Criminal Court

Article 7 (Crimes against humanity) of the provisions of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal
Court lists a number of acts including ‘Murder’, ‘Extermination’, ‘Torture’ and ‘Other inhumane acts of a
similar character intentionally causing great suffering, or serious injury to body or to mental or physical
health’ any one of which constitutes a ‘crime against humanity’ when ‘committed as part of a widespread
or systematic attack directed against any civilian population, with knowledge of the attack.’

Article 8 (War Crimes) (e) refers to:

Other serious violations of the laws and customs applicable in armed conflicts not of an international
character, within the established framework of international law, namely any of the following acts:

(i)

Intentionally directing attacks against the civilian population as such or against individual civilians
not taking direct part in hostilities;

before stating in 8(f) that:

Paragraph 2(e) applies to armed conflicts not of an international character and thus does not apply to
situations of internal disturbances and tensions, such as riots, isolated and sporadic acts of violence or
other acts of a similar nature. It applies to armed conflicts that take place in the territory of a State
when there is protracted armed conflict between governmental authorities and organised armed
groups or between such groups.

Does the Council take the view that a natural reading of these Articles would allow terrorists (if sufficiently
organised) as well as rebel groups to fall within the provisions of the Statute, or does it agree with the view
stated clearly by the French Government in its Declaration at the time of ratification, and held by other
governments as well as a large body of legal opinion, that terrorist acts would not fall within its
provisions?

A number of EU Member States have now ratified the Rome Statute. In view of the scale of the terrorist
attacks on the United States last September, as well as the thousands of people who have died over the
years in numerous countries around the world, including EU Member States, does the Council believe that
it is any longer acceptable to treat terrorist crimes differently from crimes against humanity or war crimes
committed by state authorities or rebel groups, and that ratification of an unamended Statute will send out
entirely the wrong signal about the willingness of the international community to confront terrorism?

Reply

(27 June 2002)

It is not for the Council to take a position on the question raised by the Honourable Member, which
relates to the interpretation of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. The European Union
is not a contracting Party to the Rome Statute, according to which it is up to the International Criminal
Court to interpret the Statute when applying it.