At first, there were smiles on all sides and everybody was happy but, ten years down the line, relations between the Dutch government and the International Criminal Court have cooled and nobody is smiling any more. But Mayor Jozias van Aartsen of The Hague has said it is inconceivable that the prestigious institute should leave his city.

The ICC is annoyed because of problems and delays in getting visas and permits for witnesses and the Court is angry because it is expected to start paying rent for the building in The Hague. Then there was the appointment of a Dutch judge and registrar of the court which never happened.

Budget cuts
The Hague proudly presents itself as an international city of peace and justice and the International Criminal Court (ICC) is its biggest trump card. The other cards are pretty powerful too: the ICTY, the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, and the UN International Court of Justice are all in The Hague.

When the court was established in 2002, the Dutch government agreed to pay the rent on the building for the coming ten years. That contract is about to run out; the Interior Ministry has to make some swingeing budget cuts and it seems unlikely that it will agree to pay the ICC’s rent for another decade.

That has not gone down well with the court’s directors. "We would hope the host nation would show some flexibility and continue to pay the rent," says ICC director Marc Dubuisson in an interview with Dutch daily Trouw. He adds: "They really are very Dutch."

Rome talks
According to the foreign ministry, the Dutch government is abiding by the original agreement and the 119 signatories to the treaty that established the court are now jointly responsible for paying the rent on the premises used by the court, as agreed during the 2002 negotiations.

Professor of International Criminal Law Göran Sluiter was an observer in Rome for the talks which established the ICC:
“Formally the Netherlands is right, but the Dutch were really keen to have the court. I doubt that Germany or Japan, the court’s main financiers, will now be prepared to pay part of the rent as well.”

Initially the foreign ministry planned to stop the rent subsidy for the court altogether, but the government coalition parties and opposition party D66 persuaded the minister that as a ‘good host’ the Netherlands should at least contribute something to the costs.

Rent
The mayor of The Hague has also put pressure on Foreign Minister Uri Rosenthal to provide a substantial financial contribution to the ICC's rent. "The negotiations are ongoing, but it remains to be seen whether that will be sufficient," according to Van Aartsen. He said it was inconceivable that the ICC should leave his city. "Not least because that Statute of Rome stipulates that the ICC has its seat in The Hague."

Visa problems
The ICC is housed in a cramped office building on the outskirts of The Hague. The plan is to move to a brand new building close to the Scheveningen detention centre, but that won’t ready until 2015. As an indication of how keen the Netherlands is to hang on to the court, the state is providing a favourable loan of 200 million euros and the building site is being provided for free.

However, Marc Dubuisson still has complaints about problems with getting Dutch visas for witnesses in ICC cases. Occasionally this has to happen in a hurry - when the witness is in danger in his or her own country, for example. But the Dutch government is dragging its heels and is not prepared to give the court carte blanche.

Justice
One of the cases currently taking place is that of the Congolese militia leader Germaine Katanga. He is accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity. His lawyers brought two witnesses from the prison in Kinshasa to testify in Katanga’s defence. Now they have applied for asylum in the Netherlands since they fear for their lives in the Democratic Republic of Congo. So far, the Dutch authorities have refused to grant this request.

Professor Sluiter is acting as their lawyer:
“The Netherlands is being obstinate about two people who are really needed for the proper adminstration of justice and that endangers the work of the court.”

Mayor Van Aartsen is confident that the ICC and the Netherlands will see eye to eye in the end. He said,

"We should not make it more of a drama than it is. It is simply important that the Netherlands behaves like an adequate and decent host nation. Having all these UN institutions in The Hague is of crucial importance to the Netherlands. They do bring certain revenues, not just to the city of The Hague, but also to the Netherlands as a nation. We should handle this exceptionally carefully."

(jric/imm/rk)