UNITED NATIONS, Dec. 12 (Xinhua) -- China's deputy permanent representative to the United Nations, Geng Shuang, said on December 12 that China hopes that the residual mechanism of the International Criminal Court will continue to reduce its functions and scale.
Speaking at the UN Security Council's review of the recent report on the work of the ICT Residual Mechanism, Geng Shuang said that, according to the Security Council resolution, the Mechanism should be a small, highly efficient temporary institution whose functions and scale will be gradually reduced over time. During the reporting period, the Mechanism proceeded with judicial activities in an orderly manner, completing court activities for all core criminal proceedings, and the Mechanism no longer has trial and appeal proceedings for core cases that are ongoing or to be conducted. China hopes that on the basis of this progress, the Mechanism will continue to reduce its functions and scale, rationally reduce expenditures and continue to optimize the allocation of financial resources.
Geng Shuang said that the practical and effective cooperation between the Mechanism and relevant countries is of great significance for it to fulfill its mandate and promote its work. With regard to the tracing of fugitives, information sharing, and the resettlement of innocent and ex-prisoners, China hopes that the Mechanism will strengthen communication with all parties concerned, enhance mutual trust, accommodate each other's legitimate concerns, learn from previous successful practices, find appropriate solutions, and work together to combat impunity.
In the early 90s of last century, the Security Council established two provisional institutions, the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia and the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, to investigate and prosecute individuals who have committed war crimes, crimes against humanity and racial crimes. While the Tribunals have largely completed all of their mandates, there are still some remaining tasks that will take many years to complete. In order to effectively monitor and implement the above-mentioned remaining work matters, the Security Council adopted resolution 1966 in 2010, establishing the residual mechanism of the International Criminal Court. (ENDS).