ICC Prosecutor Karim K. Khan KC and Samuel Emonet, Executive Director of JRR, met in The Hague on 2 May 2023.
For the occasion, Samuel Emonet, Executive Director of JRR, met with Karim A. A. Khan KC, Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, in The Hague to discuss their common partnership and solutions to strengthen their efforts in the global fight against impunity.
THE HAGUE, 2 May 2023 – This year marks the 10th anniversary of Justice Rapid Response’s (JRR) first deployment to the International Criminal Court (ICC). Samuel Emonet, Executive Director of JRR, met for the occasion in The Hague with ICC Prosecutor Karim A. A. Khan. This meeting was an opportunity to discuss the new partnership signed in 2022 between the two organizations and ways to strengthen their accountability efforts worldwide.
“I had a very productive meeting today with Mr. Khan and it was a real pleasure to discuss the way forward as JRR wishes to maintain and expand its collaboration with the ICC. JRR’s mission is to provide prompt, impartial and professional expertise to investigate international crimes and serious human rights violations and to promote the rights and access to justice of victims and survivors, and we are very pleased to work hand-in-hand with the ICC in the global fight against impunity for international crimes,” declared Emonet after his meeting with the Prosecutor.
The very first deployments of JRR Roster experts to the ICC took place in 2013, as the organization experienced a surge in needs for niche expertise in the context of the Ntaganda case. JRR rapidly answered the ICC’s request and deployed three investigators. Among these investigators was a French-speaking sexual and gender-based crimes (SGBC) investigator who played a crucial role. This investigator was involved in the collection of key witness and victim interviews that, combined with the investigative and evidence gathering activities by the Office of the Prosecutor (OTP) allowed for SGBC charges against Ntaganda to be confirmed by the pre-Trial Chamber in February 2014. The subsequent trial allowed this and other evidence to be led and tested, resulting in the Trial Chamber conviction on 8 July 2019.
This case marked the beginning of a long and fruitful collaboration between JRR and the ICC, with 18 expert deployments to date. When requested, JRR stands ready to provide the ICC with niche expertise by deploying experts with appropriate linguistic and geographical knowledge during crucial phases of an investigation or prosecution, JRR and the OTP jointly ensure that these deployments either cover the OTP’s short-term needs for expertise or are pre-cursors to the establishment of posts within the OTP organigram to be staffed through the OTP’s regular recruitment and selection procedures.
JRR remains dedicated to working side by side to the ICC to fight impunity and help promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, and help build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels.”