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World Day for Int'l Justice 2025: Theme, significance & why we celebrate
World Day for International Justice, sometimes referred to as International Justice Day or the Day of International Criminal Justice, is observed to honour the ICC's work and its contribution to the administration of justice.
To confront atrocities and promote world peace for victims of abuse, human rights violations, and those impacted by genocide and terrorism, this day serves as a reminder of the significance of justice, accountability, and the rule of law.
World Day for International Justice 2025 theme
There has been no official announcement of the 2025 World Day for International Justice theme. The 2025 theme, however, is anticipated to centre on new global justice concerns, including digital accountability, climate-related crimes, or the role of young people in enforcing international law, according to current trends.
The fundamental goal is always the same, regardless of the theme is to promote justice, defend the rights of victims, and strengthen international collaboration with the International Criminal Court.
What is the history behind 'World Day for International Justice'?
The Rome Statute, which established the International Criminal Court (ICC), was adopted on July 17, 1998, marking the beginning of the World Day for International Justice. When national courts are unable or unwilling to prosecute anyone accused of crimes against humanity, war crimes, crimes of aggression, or genocide, the ICC is the first permanent international court capable of doing so.
The Rome Statute, which attempts to hold those responsible for serious crimes accountable, is a major turning point in the global fight against impunity for such crimes. The Day of International Criminal Justice, later renamed the World Day for International Justice was established on July 17th, the 10th anniversary of the Rome Statute's adoption.
What is the significance of the 'World Day for International Justice'?
The purpose of the celebration is to raise public awareness of the mandate and the significance of justice in cases involving serious crimes. It also aids in raising awareness of those who have long been deprived of justice for a variety of offenses. It aids in comprehending the significance of advancing human rights, battling for justice, and accelerating criminal prosecutions.
The significance of holding people accountable for their deeds is commemorated on this day, especially those who have committed crimes against humanity, war crimes, genocide, and other serious violations of international law.
It increases understanding of how international judicial systems, such as the ICC, combat impunity and promote world peace and security. The rights of victims and survivors of these atrocities are also emphasized, with a focus on their demands for justice, compensation, and recognition.
Role of India in World Day for International Justice
The Rome Statute established the framework for a permanent international criminal court 27 years ago in 2025. Even though not all nations, including India, are parties to the ICC, their common objective is to guarantee that justice is served regardless of how strong the offender is or how serious the offence.
India is not a member of the International Criminal Court since it has not ratified the Rome Statute, although it acknowledges the significance of international justice. India actively participated in the Rome Statute's formulation but chose not to adopt it in 1998 for a number of reasons.
Through its dedication to the rule of law, national accountability systems, and involvement in global peacekeeping operations, India continues to support the larger objectives of World Day for International Justice even if it is not a State Party to the ICC.
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The Hindu
18 hours ago
- The Hindu
Student suicide highlights ICC failures in HEIs; a case for campus safety in NIRF rankings
The father of a 20-year-old student of Odisha who recently committed suicide held members of her college's Internal Complaints Committee (ICC) 'solely responsible' for his daughter's death by self-immolation. He alleged that the ICC members prepared a 'biased report' and blamed the student following her complaint of sexual harassment by a professor. He claimed that based on the ICC report, the principal told his daughter that she was at fault and may be punished for making a false allegation against the teacher who is the head of the Education department. The second-year Integrated student of Fakir Mohan (Autonomous) College in Balasore immolated herself shortly after coming out of the Principal's chamber. 'I hope the system will improve following the death of my daughter,' he said. Though the ICC is mandated by the University Grants Commission, in many of the institutions they are barely functional. Many students and activists make a case that social aspects such as student safety should be an important parameter for ranking HEIs so there is some pressure on the governing bodies and managements to act. The National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF)'s current methodology makes it mandatory for the Universities to have a functional ICC, but this doesn't influence the rankings. 'The ICC should be an integral part of these ranking systems. It should matter a lot how the oppressed – including women – are treated in our educational institutions. Do they feel safe? Do they have equal opportunities?' questioned Geeta Kumari, former JNU Students Union president and a Gender Sensitisation Committee Against Sexual Harassment (GSCASH) student representative. GSCASH, a body established to address sexual grievances, was replaced with ICC on the campus in 2017. Ms. Kumari served in GSCASH from 2015 to 2017. Among the various parameters of the annual ranking system, Teaching, Learning and Resources, Research and Professional Practices, Graduation Outcome, and Peer Perception play a critical role but student safety aspects such as a functional ICC are often not taken into consideration. In a quick and random survey, three highly ranked HEIs had several lacunae in ICC functioning — with many students unaware of the very existence of these committees meant to safeguard their dignity. A skewed system The Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), which ranked second in the University rankings of NIRF, replaced the Gender Sensitisation Committee Against Sexual Harassment (GSCASH) with the Internal Complaints Committee (ICC) in 2017, but students attest that the change doesn't make much difference on the ground and the campus remains unsafe for students. 'The university administration disbanded the GSCASH and constituted the ICC, citing the UGC's standardization policy. But the move actually came in the wake of multiple sexual harassment allegations against faculty members that year,' said Parvathy P, a PhD scholar at the Centre for Law and Governance, JNU. She mentioned that the current structure of the ICC is biased against the students. 'The current ICC has nine members—six nominated by the administration and three student representatives elected through campus polls. Despite this, the structure remains skewed in favour of the university management, which continues to hold significant control over all decision-making,' said Ms. Parvathy. Recalling a recent case, Ms. Parvathy said, 'A UG student faced sexual harassment in 2024, but the administration failed to follow a transparent process to ensure justice. When she staged a sit-in protest at the university gate, demanding action, the administration imposed a fine on her instead of acting against the perpetrators. She was ultimately forced to pay the fine to continue her studies.' 'ICC is filled with people who do not understand gender and its complexities. The first chairperson of ICC made comments such as 'umar ho gayi shaadi bache karo' to female students when they were protesting,' Ms. Kumari said. Banaras Hindu University (BHU) at Varanasi that is ranked fifth in the University rankings of NIRF has an ICC. 'We are completely unaware of such a body in the campus. Even the official BHU website does not list ICC members,' said a BHU research scholar on condition of anonymity. IIT-BHU, which had a noted sexual harassment case in Nov 1, 2023 , has no elected student representative in its ICC. The Uttar Pradesh police arrested the three accused on December 31. The research scholar said there is no security verification at the gates of BHU, and anyone from the public can enter freely. 'The three accused in the case were reportedly involved in other incidents of molestation on campus. It shows that little has changed on the ground. What has now become routine is that each time a sexual harassment case surfaces, there's an immediate wave of student protests. But within days, the outrage fades, and the administration carries on as if nothing happened,' he said. 'Dissatisfied with functioning' Mehina Fathima Shihab, student member of the ICC, Delhi University, main campus, which ranked ninth in the NIRF ranking, revealed that she isn't happy with the committee's functioning. 'The constitution of the committee itself is a problem, as ICCs are mostly nominated bodies with little or no autonomy. The committee is not fully elected by the stakeholders of the university, and its nominated members often show a loyalty towards the institution rather than upholding the rights of the student community,' she said, reiterating that the ICCs of all of the DU campuses have room for improvement. The body often faces internal criticism from the elected student members over decisions taken by the committee. 'There are fundamental conflicts between elected members and nominated members, as elected student representatives want to make sure that the campus is safer for everyone. Since not all the nominated members are democratic, conflicts take place whenever we meet. The demand for GSCASH is still very relevant as it can function much better than the ICC,' said Ms. Shihab. GSCASH was an independent body proctor with no interference from the college administration, whereas ICC has become an administrative tool, where confidentiality is compromised, she says. Ms. Shihab also disagreed with the NIRF ranking scores as its structure does not fully assess the safety and security of students within the campus premises. 'The NIRF ranking scales are faulty when it comes to assessing the social aspects of an institution. The Delhi University campus is very unsafe for women. Sexual harassment cases are being reported on a monthly basis. The UGC regulation, which constituted ICC, clearly mentions the list of responsibilities of institutions in making their campus safer for women, and most of them are ignored, including basic measures like ensuring campus spaces are well-lit,' she said. But the University's faculty members say that the DU's Miranda House has an effective ICC. 'I will not claim that all of our students know about the ICC but it has increased awareness,' said Abha Dev Habib, Associate Professor, Miranda House, Delhi University. While the functioning of the ICCs differs from college to college affiliated to the University, Miranda House is on the right track, Abha Dev Habib said. 'Our ICC has three student members. We ask every class of students to give representation and these representatives come together to elect the members. We have been receiving a lot of sexual harassment complaints and a strong ICC is something we do not compromise,' Ms. Habib said. Better implementation 'Many universities conduct superficial inquiries simply to silence the survivor. Instead of ensuring justice, some ICC members indulge in character assassination, prioritising the university's reputation over the victim's rights. In such cases, the ICC becomes a mere puppet of the administration. Its fundamental duties are often diluted or ignored altogether,' Abdul Wahab, State Secretary of SFI, Uttar Pradesh said. He also alleged that universities don't care to conduct elections to select student members into the ICC and often function with nominated faculty members. 'According to UGC norms, ICCs must include elected student members, faculty, and external representatives from NGOs or activists working in the field. But in reality, most universities either handpick members or fail to maintain a functional ICC. How can an entirely nominated body function impartially?' he asked. The ICCs are not supposed to function as a punitive body, but rather as a body that ensures sexual harassment does not happen within campus premises. 'Gender sensitization workshops take place once every two years. There is no consistency, and its reach is quite limited. NIRF rankings often overlook the functionality and a mere presence is enough to secure a good rank,' Ms. Shihab said. Attempts were made to reach out to the managements of Sharda University, JNU and BHU and IIT-BHU via phone calls and email. There has been no response. (Those in distress or having suicidal thoughts are encouraged to seek help and counselling by calling the helpline numbers here)
The Hindu
a day ago
- The Hindu
‘Civil society globally did a fantastic job in supporting Gaza; but governments in West are evil'
After his two-storey house in Gaza was bombed in October 2023, allegedly by Israeli forces, Palestinian human rights lawyer Raji Sourani remains committed to returning to the war-torn strip; one of his first priorities, he says. In an exclusive interview, Mr. Sourani, who founded the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) in 1995, shares the current scenario of his and his organisation's efforts to prosecute Israel for 'genocide' at the International Court of Justice. Mr. Sournai, who is currently in Cairo, Egypt, expressed severe disappointment with Karim Khan, the chief prosecutor at the International Criminal Court (ICC), adding that Mr. Khan had 'failed' the people of Gaza. It is to note that, since 2015, Sourani has led the Palestinian legal team representing victims at the ICC. In a conversation with Al-Jazeera in April 2024, it was mentioned that you and a team of lawyers from the PCHR were working on prosecuting Israel for 'genocide' at the ICJ. Where does this stand in the present-day? The ICJ, as you know, is a court for the states. Since January 2015, we have been trying our best and have invested in making a case move at the ICC. But, there was an incredible amount of political pressure from the U.S., especially from the then Donald Trump-led administration. Penalties were warned on anyone who would try to bring the U.S. or Israel to the ICC, at any political level. This lasted till March 2021, when the ICC chief prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda, decided to open an investigation. However, when Karim Khan took over as the new chief prosecutor of the ICC, he did not move anywhere. If I may interrupt, can you elaborate on why things did not move after Karim Khan took over? We do not know, but he was talking about restructuring the court, and the investigation into Palestine and budget deficits, among others. His priorities were very confusing to us, and he refused to meet us, even in principle, for a long period of time. When the October 7, 2023, attacks took place in Israel, we tried to meet Khan on numerous occasions. He already had the decision made by Fatou Bensouda to go ahead with the investigation. All Khan had to do was to ensure the investigation went ahead, but he did not do that. He continued to refuse a meeting with us, including with his investigative team. That is when we decided to think of the ICJ, and to open the dialogue channels with Ireland and South Africa, and the latter was open to the idea. We were lucky that South Africa…took over the case at the ICJ and challenged Israel while accusing the latter of the most serious crime of genocide. Coming back to Karim Khan, there has been recent news that he was reportedly warned to be 'destroyed', along with the ICC, if the arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant were not withdrawn. As a human rights lawyer, how do you perceive this? Despite the first Trump-led administration deciding that it would sanction anyone who tried to demand accountability [from the U.S. or Israel], Bensouda was incredibly courageous to challenge that. She formed the investigative body and had a meeting with us, and the investigation was simply supposed to proceed. We have documented war crimes dating back to 2014 – including crimes against humanity and persecution. However, after Khan took over, he refused to meet. It is very strange that a prosecutor, and his team, who cannot visit the place [Gaza], had no interest in meeting the lawyers who had documentation of the situation. Meanwhile, the war in Ukraine erupted. Soon after, he opened an office in Kyiv and began the investigation in Ukraine with 37 investigators. But, he did not move with respect to our file. We warned them [Khan and his team] after the October 7th attacks that there is obvious evidence of plans to carry out a genocide in Gaza. Still, they did not want to meet or listen. Only after making the case at the ICJ did Khan ask to meet us, and we were reluctant. I told Khan that he was partly responsible for the blood, pain and suffering of Gaza, after October 7th. Maybe if Khan had held any Israelis accountable, according to the files he had, then they [Israel] would not have thought of doing genocide. He promised to move forward, but only after he went to Israel and met the Israeli victims… Later, he delivered the arrest warrants against Netanyahu and Gallant, but is that enough? These warrants are related to starvation and food, and not to genocide. Do you feel that Karim has failed you [and the people of Gaza]? Definitely. By waiting two years after taking over [to initiate action], he failed us… I do not want more than what he did for Ukraine. In one year, he had a warrant against Putin. I am damn sure that if Israel had been informed that they could be held accountable, they would have thought many times before doing what they are doing now… This is the most well-documented conflict in history, this is a genocide that was broadcast and live-streamed, and the world has been watching it? Speaking of war crimes, do you feel that the world and the media has turned its back on Gaza? I think the civil society, globally, did a fantastic job on [supporting] Gaza. I am very proud that the crème-de-la-crème of American universities and the generation of tomorrow stood fair, and they tried their best to voice the voiceless. They were able to speak truth to power. This includes people in London, Tokyo, Delhi and Paris, among others. It is obvious, the solidarity and support for Palestine. Our problem is not with the people…but the government's, in the U.S. and Europe, are evil. How can they support a criminal, belligerent occupation, and call a genocide a right to self-defence? I am appalled, the behaviour is selective. I also noticed that you were no longer based in Gaza, a place that you were not willing to leave at any cost. What made you leave Gaza? I did not leave Gaza willingly, my house was bombed. I have been a lawyer for the last 43 years, and one of my missions is to document these war crimes. I was checking whether the targeting against me was deliberate or not. My colleagues and I concluded that yes, this was deliberate. I was advised by my friends from across the world not to stay a minute longer in Gaza, because they believed that targeting was deliberate. They said that nobody will make use of you if you are dead. On the other hand, my wife and son refused to separate from me and leave for Egypt. At that time, it was 'mission impossible' to leave Gaza. But some friends intervened and got me out of there. For the first time, I feel that I am not in the right place [because I am away from Gaza]. You did mention that you had proper documentation of the alleged war crimes. Can you walk us through the testimonies of the victims, which you have gathered? We have had a real dilemma since the latest war broke out, because we never used to document anything partly. I can assure you that whether it's in 2008, 2009, 2012, 2014, 2017 and more, we have documented every war crime – crimes against humanity, persecution – in full. But, in this war, it was 'mission impossible' to document everything. Firstly, it was extremely dangerous, so I asked everyone in my team to stay home. We decided to do selective documentation, what that means is that we had to be selective in how many places we could cover. But wherever we covered, we did it in full. We documented attacks against shelters, UNRWA schools and hundreds of people have been killed, among many other war crimes. We have major samples on every type of crime that was committed. Do you ever plan to return to Gaza, given that there is an alleged threat to your life? Definitely, that is the first thing on my agenda. I am a deep-rooted Gazan, my family has lived in Gaza for the last seven centuries. I chose to be in Gaza, even when I was offered work in places across the world. I know that Gaza is not the most beautiful place in the world, but that is where I belong and feel my humanity. And there is a cause and case that I am working for. I have a team in Gaza, 45 of them, they continue to document starvation, bombings, killings and displacement. We have lost three of our staff members so far, and many of our staff members have also lost their family members… Not a for second will I comprise on returning to Gaza, no matter what the price will be.
Hindustan Times
2 days ago
- Hindustan Times
ICC convicts pair over Central Africa war crimes
The International Criminal Court Thursday convicted a former top Central African Republic football official and a militiaman nicknamed Rambo for multiple war crimes committed during the country's civil war in 2013 and 2014. ICC convicts pair over Central Africa war crimes Ex-sports minister Patrice-Edouard Ngaissona was a senior leader of mainly Christian militias as the country slid into civil war, while Alfred Yekatom, a former MP, commanded them on the ground. The ICC sentenced Yekatom to 15 years behind bars for 20 war crimes and crimes against humanity including murder and torture. Ngaissona received a sentence of 12 years for 28 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity. Their militia, known as anti-Balaka or "anti-machete", were formed as vigilante self-defence groups after mainly Muslim rebels called the Seleka stormed the capital Bangui and removed then-president Francois Bozize, a Christian. Presiding judge Bertram Schmitt read harrowing details of the violence committed by the militia against suspected Seleka Muslims. Yekatom's men tortured one suspect by cutting off his fingers, toes, and one ear. This man's body was never found. Others were killed and then mutilated. Appearing in court dressed in a light brown suit and waistcoat, white shirt, and dark tie, Yekatom listened impassively as the judge read out the verdict. Dressed in a bright blue jacket, Ngaissona nodded to the judge as his sentence was delivered. The court found Yekatom not guilty of conscripting child soldiers and acquitted Ngaissona of the charge of rape. Both men had pleaded not guilty to all charges. Yekatom was extradited to The Hague in late 2018, after being arrested in the CAR for firing his gun in parliament. Ngaissona was arrested in France in December 2018 and extradited to The Hague. At the time he was head of the CAR football association and a board member of the Confederation of African Football . The Central African Republic is among the poorest nations in the world and has endured a succession of civil wars and authoritarian governments since independence in 1960. Violence has subsided in recent years but fighting occasionally erupts in remote regions between rebels and the national army, which is backed by Russian mercenaries and Rwandan troops. Set up in 2002, the ICC is the world's only independent tribunal capable of prosecuting those accused of the world's worst crimes. ric/srg/cw This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.
