III.  ACCOUNTABILITY AND THE RIGHTS OF VICTIMS interests that States are entitled—and even obliged—to bring proceedings against the perpetrator, regardless of the location of the crime and the nationality of the perpetrator or the victim.”124 Sometimes the extent of a State’s accountability obligations will have to be determined in the framework of the jurisdictional competence of an international tribunal or court. The jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court, for example, applies to the crimes set out in its Rome Statute committed by nationals or on the territory of a State party to the Statute—or when the United Nations Security Council so decides.125 However, in view of the complementarity principle enshrined in the Rome Statute, the Court can exercise its jurisdiction only when the competent State is unwilling or unable to prosecute. States therefore retain the main responsibility for trying alleged perpetrators and only in certain cases may prosecution be transferred to the International Criminal Court. 4. Amnesties126 Opportunities for accountability and justice most often come at the end of an armed conflict. Amnesty for violations committed during the conflict can become a key condition for obtaining a ceasefire or peace process, raising challenging questions as to the extent to which the granting of amnesty is compatible with international human rights and humanitarian law requirements of accountability and the rights of victims. It is generally held that amnesty laws that foreclose prosecution of war crimes, genocide, crimes against humanity and gross violations of human rights, such as extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary execution, torture, and enforced disappearance, are inconsistent with States’ accountability   Mary Robinson, “Preface”, in Universal Jurisdiction: National Courts and the Prosecution of Serious Crimes under International Law, Stephen Macedo, ed. (Philadelphia, University of Pennsylvania Press, 2004). 125   Rome Statute, art. 5. 126   For further information, see Rule-of-law Tools for Post-conflict States: Amnesties (United Nations publication, Sales No. E.09.XIV.1). Available from www.ohchr.org. 124 85