Ambassador Cherith Norman Chalet
Acting Deputy Permanent Representative
U.S. Mission to the United Nations
New York, New York
December 19, 2019
AS DELIVERED
Fellow Council Members, please allow me to express my thanks to France as the penholders on today’s resolutions. The United States fully supports this revised mandate, which should improve the Mission’s performance, consistent with the request of the Government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo that the Mission become leaner, better equipped, and better trained with a stronger Protection of Civilians mandate.
The United States has historically been, and will continue to be, a strong supporter of meaningful accountability and justice for victims of atrocities through appropriate mechanisms.
However, the United States does not and cannot support any references to the International Criminal Court and the Rome Statute that do not distinguish sufficiently between Parties and Non-Parties to the Rome Statute, or are otherwise inconsistent with the U.S. position on the ICC, as announced by the White House on September 10, 2018.
In particular, the United States reiterates our continuing and longstanding objection to any assertion of ICC jurisdiction over nationals of States that are not parties to the Rome Statute, including the United States and Israel, absent a referral from the UN Security Council or the consent of such a State.
Our position on the ICC in no way diminishes our commitment to supporting accountability for atrocity crimes. The United States remains a leader in the fight to end impunity and supports justice and accountability for international crimes, including war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide.
The United States respects the decision of those nations that have chosen to join the ICC, and, in turn, we expect that our decision not to join and not to place our citizens under the court’s jurisdiction will also be respected.
Thank you.
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