STATEMENT BY
H.E. DR. MICHAEL IMRAN KANU
AMBASSADOR AND PERMANENT REPRESENTATIVE
AT THE EIGHTY-FIRST SESSION OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY PLENARY MEETING ON AGENDA ITEM 73: REPORT OF THE INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT
UNGA HALL, UNHQ
2ND NOVEMBER 2026
Check against delivery
President,
1. I thank the President of the Court, Judge Tomoko Akane, for presenting the annual report of the International Criminal Court, and the Secretary-General for his reports. We regret that the President of the Court with which this Organization maintains a Relationship Agreement must address this Assembly by video, because she has been sanctioned for performing her judicial functions. That a decision of the General Assembly was necessary at all should give every Member State pause.
2. Sierra Leone joins the President and the Court in congratulating its former Judge, Justice Navi Pillay on being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, in recognition of her dedicated work on accountability and the resilience of justice, respect for international law and the pursuit of peace.
3. As we have repeatedly stated over time, Sierra Leone speaks from experience on accountability and ending impunity for atrocity crimes. We ratified the Rome Statute in 2000, while our own conflict was still unresolved, and the Special Court for Sierra Leone showed us that accountability can reach the highest levels of power. For us, the ICC remains a promise to victims.
4. The report shows a Court delivering under great strain: the first confirmation of charges in absentia, in the Kony case; the sentencing of Ali Muhammad Ali Abd-Al-Rahman following the first conviction arising from a Security Council referral; and the confirmation of charges against former President Mr. Duterte, with the Appeals Chamber affirming that withdrawal does not extinguish jurisdiction over crimes committed during membership.
5. Since the report was issued, on 23 September, Trial Chamber VI convicted Mahamat Said Abdel Kani of crimes against humanity committed in Bangui in 2013, the first verdict against a senior Seleka commander. These are judicial decisions, reasoned and appealable, and they should be assessed as such.
6. Given the nature of the Court’s work, Sierra Leone is gravely concerned by the sanctions now extended to half of the Court’s judges, its senior officials and, since 9 October, the Court as an institution. We are also concerned by the convictions in absentia of Court officials, including its President, by a national court. We share the UN Secretary-General’s assessment that the sanctions are a serious blow to international criminal justice, and we call for these measures to be revoked.
7. Every State is entitled to disagree with the Court, and the Rome Statute provides lawful avenues to do so. Sanctioning judges for exercising their judicial functions is not one of those avenues. Judicial independence cannot be conditional. If it is withdrawn from one court, no court is secure. As States Parties, we must therefore move beyond expressions of solidarity to practical measures that safeguard the Court’s operations, its personnel and those who cooperate with it. We look to the twenty-fifth session of the Assembly of States Parties to deliver them.
President,
8. Cooperation is a treaty obligation, yet unexecuted arrest warrants and non-cooperation remain the Court’s greatest constraints. A court without arrests is a court without trials. Last month in Freetown, Sierra Leone hosted a seminar on strengthening cooperation and complementarity with the Court, reaffirming that the ICC is a court of last resort and that accountability begins at home. Sierra Leone was pleased to have received Court officials, States Parties and non-States Parties, including at the ministerial level, in Freetown.
9. We note with regret the withdrawal notifications by States Parties in the region and elsewhere. Regarding those States Parties, we further note that some concerns about even-handedness may be legitimate and deserve a hearing within the Assembly. But withdrawal does not make justice fairer; it leaves victims less protected. The door remains open, and we encourage reconsideration. The Court, for its part, must continue to apply the law with equal rigour in every situation, and we are confident that it will.
President,
10. This year’s disciplinary proceedings under article 46 of the Statute were difficult. Sierra Leone expressed its principled position in that process and remains committed to the Rome Statute system, which exists for the victims. The forthcoming elections of a Prosecutor and six judges must rest on merit, integrity, the high moral character of candidates and independence, with fair regional and gender representation, free from external pressure of any kind.
11. Sierra Leone will continue to support the work of a Court that is stronger, more efficient and more accountable. We have co-sponsored draft resolution A/81/L.11 and call on all Member States to support it. In Freetown last month, we spoke of the triumph of hope over adversity, and of accountability over impunity. That is the choice before this Assembly. Sierra Leone stands with the Court, and with the victims it was created to serve.
I thank you.
