Eduardo González
This past Monday, the Council of Ministers authorized a new voluntary contribution of half a million euros to the Trust Fund of the Prosecutor’s Office of the International Criminal Court (ICC) for the 2024 financial year.
The International Criminal Court (ICC) investigates and prosecutes crimes of genocide, crimes against humanity, war and aggression. The Prosecutor’s Office is one of the four organs of the International Criminal Court, since June 2021 it has been headed by prosecutor Karim A. A. Khan, who is responsible for both criminal action and the investigation of cases. This dual role of instructor and prosecutor makes him the key player of the ICC. Currently, the Prosecutor has 17 lines of investigation open, along with another three in the preliminary phase.
In March 2022, the Prosecutor created a trust fund with the objective of supporting this investigation and instruction work in 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 and another three million in December 2023.
“Spain, responding to its commitment to the fight against impunity and international criminal justice, contributes financially to the work of the Prosecutor’s Office,” declared the Council of Ministers. “For Spain, it is of special importance to support the investigations opened by the Prosecutor’s Office, which include the investigation into the situation in Ukraine (opened in March 2022), the investigation into crimes that have allegedly been committed in Gaza and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem (opened in 2021), or the investigation in Afghanistan (opened in 2003),” he added.
The International Criminal Court has gained prominence in recent times for its role in investigating war crimes perpetrated by Russia in Ukraine. In March 2023, the Council of Ministers approved an agreement requesting the ICC prosecutor to investigate alleged war crimes in Ukraine, within the framework of a joint request made by nearly forty States to the court in The Hague. following the Russian invasion.
Separately, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, met in September 2023 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.”
