D. The International Criminal Court 46. The Commission has established new mechanisms, such as the Special Rapporteur on Prisons, the Special Rapporteur on Arbitrary and Summary Executions and the Special Rapporteur on Women, whose mandate is to report during the open sessions of the Commission. These mechanisms have created opportunities for victims and NGOs to send information directly to special rapporteurs. At the same time, a victim or an NGO can make a complaint to the Commission regarding acts of torture as defined in article 5 of the African Charter. While an individual complaint is pending before the Commission, the victim or the NGO can send the same information to special rapporteurs for their public reports to the Commission’s sessions. To provide a forum for adjudicating claims of violations of the rights guaranteed in the African Charter, the Organization of African Unity Assembly adopted a protocol for the establishment of the African Court of Human and Peoples’ Rights in June 1998. 47. The Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, adopted on 17 July 1998, established a permanent international criminal court to try individuals responsible for genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes (A/ CONF.183/9). The Court has jurisdiction over cases alleging torture either as part of the crime of genocide or as a crime against humanity, if the torture is committed as part of a widespread or systematic attack, or as a war crime under the Geneva Conventions of 1949. Torture is defined in the Rome Statute as the intentional infliction of severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental, upon a person in the custody or under the control of the accused. As of 25 September 2000, the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court had been signed by 113 countries and ratified by 21 States. The Court will have its headquarters in The Hague. This Court has jurisdiction only in cases in which States are unable or unwilling to prosecute individuals responsible for the crimes described in the Rome Statute. 10