Italy: a Court for crimes against the environment

A conference organised by the International Environmental Sciences Academy, that will take place in Venice on the 23rd and 24th November 2006, will propose the creation of an International Penal Court to judge aggressions against the environment. According to the President of the Academy, the Nobel Prize Winner for Peace Adolfo Perez Esquivel, the Court is need so that judge big violations such as Chernobil, Bophal, Asbestos, and Petrol will not go unpunished anymore. The idea is to introduce in the statute of the International Penal Court new types of crimes, such as the ?international environment disaster? that will be considered as a ?crime against humanity?. The International Penal Court for the Environment should be a permanent body of the United Nations. A Charter has been written to support the idea: it can be undersigned as an individual or as a group by all interested people. www.iaes.info