ICC to Investigate Honduras

The Chief Prosecutor at the International Criminal Court (ICC), Luis Moreno-Ocampo has announced that his Office has opened preliminary investigations in both Honduras and Nigeria. Currently, there are five situations before the Court, though as of November 2010 the situation in Kenya remains in the Pre-Trial stage awaiting the announcement of warrants of arrest.

The investigation in Honduras will focus on the June 2009 coup d’état in which Manuel Zelaya was removed from power in the Central American state. The Prosecutor has, as yet, declined to give further details on the investigation in Nigeria.

In January 2010, hundreds of people were killed following clashes between Christian and Muslim groups near the city of Jos in central Nigeria.

Proprio motu powers

Under Article 13 of the Rome Statute, the ICC may only exercise its jurisdiction when a State Party on whose territory crimes were committed or of which an accused is a national refers a situation to the Court, when the UN Security Council acting pursuant to Chapter VII of the UN Charter refers a situation, or when the Prosecutor initiates an investigation proprio motu. According to Article 15, the Prosecutor may exercise this latter power on the basis of any serious information received on crimes within the jurisdiction of the Court.

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