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Federal Foreign Minister Westerwelle calls for the situation in Syria to be referred to the International Criminal Court
Foreign Minister Westerwelle issued the following statement on the fringes of the G20 summit in St Petersburg, after discussions with Russia’s Foreign Minister Lavrov, France’s Foreign Minister Fabius and Turkey’s Foreign Minister Davutoğlu.
“In light of the possible use of chemical weapons in Syria the international community cannot simply return to business as usual.
In my discussions today, I have been arguing for the United Nations Security Council to give the International Criminal Court a mandate to carry out an investigation into the alleged use of poison gas in Syria.
We want the International Criminal court to start investigations now, as the use of chemical weapons is completely unacceptable. It is a serious breach of international law, which is why a United Nations Security Council resolution is necessary and why I am calling for one.
We already launched an initiative for a referral to the International Criminal Court in January alongside 56 other countries in the international community. My impression is that the situation has become so serious that a renewed attempt should be made.”