20TH SESSION OF THE ASSEMBLY OF STATES PARTIES
13 December 2021
Name of the Event: Towards the enforcement of the right to peace: Crimes against peace global campaign launch Confirmation (hosted by: Platform for Peace and Humanity)
Report by: Claire Kaula, Junior Research Associate PILPG-NL
Highlights:
The Platform for Peace and Humanity aims to codify a legally enforceable international human right to peace.
To do this, the Platform for Peace and Humanity advocates for adding amendments to the Rome Statute to extend the crimes against peace to also include the crime of the threat of aggression, propaganda for war, and the intervention in domestic affairs.
To meet these goals the Platform for Peace and Humanity launched the Enforcement of the Right to Peace Global Advocacy Programme and the Crimes Against Peace Global Campaign in 2021.
Speakers:
Rastislav Šutek, Executive Director, Platform for Peace and Humanity; Convener of the Global Coalition of Youth Ambassadors for the Right to Peace;
Carlota Maldonado Montserrat, Project Coordinator, Platform for Peace and Humanity;
Sofi Sideridou, Youth Ambassador for the Right to Peace for Greece, Platform for Peace and Humanity
Summary of the Event:
The event began with a presentation of the Platform for Peace and Humanity’s (the Platform) Enforcement of the Right to Peace Global Advocacy Programme launch video. The Platform was formed because of the constant wars, climate catastrophes, record numbers of refugees, and overall instability for the next generation. In response, the Platform aims to deliver solutions and shift the world’s focus back to international peace.
The speakers Rastislav Šutek, Carlota Maldonado Montserrat, and Sofi Sideridou together presented the Platform’s Enforcement of the Right to Peace Global Advocacy Programme (the Programme) and its Crimes Against Peace Global Campaign.
The Programme aims to codify the human right to peace. Currently, there is no right to peace and many states do not believe it is part of customary international law. However, the Platform argues that the right to peace is customary international law. By codifying this right, the Platform claims, avenues for strategic litigation to protect the right to peace and enforce state obligations to respect it would open. The Programme is working to bring the debate forward to codify the crime against peace. This is being done through multiple advocacy channels including advocating for an International Court of Justice Advisory Opinion on the right to peace and a UN General Assembly Resolution recognizing the right to peace. The Programme also advocates for creating binding mechanisms, including a human rights treaty on the right to peace, and amending the Rome Statute to include more crimes related to the right to peace. The Programme formed a Global Coalition consisting of Youth Ambassadors who are lawyers, scholars, and activists aged between 18 and 25 and each representing a different state. The Youth Ambassadors approach prominent diplomats, states, and academics to advocate and raise awareness for the codification of the right to peace.
One of the Programme’s specific projects is the Crimes Against Peace Global Campaign. The Crimes Against Peace Global Campaign aims to broaden the crimes against peace in Article 8 bis of the Rome Statute. Currently, the crime against peace in the Rome Statute is the crime of aggression, but the Platform claims it is too narrow and the jurisdiction requirements make its use limited. The Crimes Against Peace Global Campaign is advocating to include three additional crimes against peace. The first, is the crime of the threat of aggression, in addition to the crime of aggression. This could be state declarations or demonstrations. Second, is the crime of propaganda for war, which already figures in many domestic criminal codes. Third, is the crime of intervention in domestic affairs. The Platform’s stance is that these three crimes added as an amendment to Article 8 bis of the Rome Statute would better reflect the protection of the right to peace.
The speakers concluded by recognizing that the Platform’s goals and visions are ambitious and require time, but based on their work and state interest thus far, they believe they are achievable.