Diana Johnson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Diana Johnson on 2016-09-12.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 11 July 2016 to Question 42107, on Islamic State, what factors would need to change for a referral to the International Criminal Court to be considered practical; what discussions the Government has had with (a) Russia, (b) China and (c) other permanent members of the UN Security Council on securing their vote for a referral; and what the Government’s latest assessment is of (i) Russia’s and (ii) China’s policy on that issue.

Mr Tobias Ellwood

We expect that any Security Council resolution at this time seeking to refer the situations in Iraq or Syria to the International Criminal Court (ICC) would be blocked, as it was when efforts were made to refer the situation in Syria to the ICC in 2014. We continue to work with our international partners, including other permanent members of the UN Security Council, to look at every available option to assist the victims of Daesh and bring those responsible for crimes to justice.