ICC to probe sexual violence, abductions in Nigeria

INDICATIONS emerged that the preliminary investigations on Nigeria by the Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) havebeen expandedbeyond the killings in Jos to now include alleged crimes of sexual violence and abductions in the Niger Delta.Acopy of the report of the ICC Prosecutoron Preliminary Examination activities, made available to The Guardian in New York, revealed that the ICChas received 38 petitions regarding Nigeria between November 2005 and last month.In all, the ICC Office of the Prosecutor to be headed by a former The Gambian Justice Minister as from June next year is yet to take a formal decision on the Nigerian cases, but according to the report, the court is continuing further analysis and more preliminary examinations.For instance, on the Jos killings, the ICC Office of the Prosecutor observed that: 'The on-going examination of these events is determining whether some of these attacks were carried out in a coordinated and organised manner, although the available information is limited.'Also, there were hints of frustrations expressed in the report by the Court regarding inadequate information from Nigeria. For example, on the added investigations of rape and sexual violence from the Niger Delta, the report lamented that 'sufficient information, however, remains scarce and no precise numbers are available.'According to the report, which wasconsidered at the just concluded United Nations (UN) meeting of the Assembly of States Parties to the Rome Statutes, of the 38 'Article 15 communication' received from Nigeria, 17 were manifestly outside the jurisdiction of the Court; eight were found to warrant further analysis; and 13 communications were included in the preliminary examination.The Rome Statutes is the basis of the ICC and have been ratifiednow by 120UN member-states including Nigeria. Such UN member-states formed the Assembly of States Parties to the Statutes and they oversee the activities of the ICC. Article 15 of the statutes covers the role of the prosecutor in receiving information on alleged crimes and their investigations.The 25-page report with two pages dedicated to Nigeria, however, revealed that the alleged crimes that are still undergoing preliminary examinations and further analysis from the country go beyond the Jos killing, which however is still the first listed alleged crimes from Nigeria.
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