MacArthur Foundation Awards $1.5 Million in Support of International Criminal Court
The Chicago-based John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation has announced grants totaling more than $1.5 million in support of efforts to help establish the International Criminal Court). The grants were made through the foundation's Global Challenges area, which addresses international human rights issues and explores how the benefits of economic globalization can be more equitably distributed.
Recent grants designed to advance the institutionalization of the ICC include an award of $750,000 to the Coalition for an International Criminal Court, a group of more than 1,000 nongovernmental organizations, to help coordinate the activities of member organizations participating in ICC-related events as well as to gather and disseminate information throughout the Coalition about the progress of the Court; $300,000 over two years to DePaul University's International Human Rights Law Institute to work with ICC signatory states in the Arab League on efforts to align their criminal legal systems with ICC treaty obligations; and an additional $150,000 to the Human Rights Law Institute to facilitate the participation of the world's least developed countries in ICC activities. In addition, a grant of $225,000 over two years was made to the Center on International Cooperation at New York University in support of its project on international courts and tribunals, and the Women's Caucus for Gender Justice received a grant of $100,000 for its work to ensure that issues relating to gender continue to be addressed in the development of the court.
"The International Criminal Court is the cornerstone of an emerging international system of justice that will give future Pinochets and Idi Amins no place to hide," said MacArthur president Jonathan F. Fanton. "But there is hard work to do to get the Court off to a sure start — the selection of judges and prosecutors must be at a high standard, good first cases need to be prepared, and laws of ratifying countries need to be aligned with international standards. The MacArthur Foundation is committed to helping this important new institution take root."
