Eduardo González
This past Tuesday, the Council of Ministers authorized two voluntary contributions to the International Criminal Court (ICC) for a total of five million euros.
At its last meeting, the Council approved several voluntary contributions from Spain to international funds and other international entities dedicated to the defense and promotion of human rights, the strengthening of international peace and security and the fight against terrorism and international crimes, for a total amount of eight million euros.
The main beneficiary, with five million euros, is the International Criminal Court, in charge of judging crimes of genocide, war, aggression and crimes against humanity and which has gained prominence in recent times for its role in the investigation of war crimes. perpetrated by Russia in Ukraine.
Three million euros correspond to the Trust Fund of the Prosecutor’s Office of the International Criminal Court, created in March 2022 to reinforce three areas of work: computer support for collecting evidence, psychological support for witnesses and survivors, and the ability to investigate crimes. of sexual violence and violence against children. Spain contributed 500,000 euros to this fund in December 2022.
The remaining two million will be allocated to the Trust Fund of the International Criminal Court for the benefit of Victims, whose objective is to carry out compensation and reparation programs for victims of international crimes under the jurisdiction of the court.
Last March, the Council of Ministers approved an agreement requesting the ICC prosecutor, Karim Khan, to investigate alleged war crimes in Ukraine, within the framework of a joint petition presented by nearly forty States to the Hague court following the Russian invasion. Separately, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, met last September in New York with Karim Khan to request that the death of the Spanish aid worker Emma Igual in Ukraine during a Russian attack be investigated as a war crime. In his response, the prosecutor assured him that he himself would take on the case “personally.”
The rest of the contributions correspond to the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) program to support girls in Afghanistan, with one million euros; to the refugee connectivity program of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), with another million euros; and to the operations in the Sahel and Mauritania (Mbera refugee camp and others) of the United Nations World Food Program (WFP) and the UNHCR, with 500,000 euros each.
