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TWO
Asian countries—Japan and Cambodia—that have
experienced internecine conflict as well as serious
warfare have emphasized the need to ratify the 1998 Rome
Statute that creates the International Criminal Court (ICC)
to prevent emergence of atrocious regimes and deter the
commission of the crimes involving aggression.
Cambodian jurist Nuon Pharat, leader of the legal team
of the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia,
a tribunal that seeks to prosecute former leaders of the
Khmer Rouge, said Cambodia ratified the statute on the
premise that it does not want to suffer from genocide
again and other crimes against humanity.
“We will
never forget the past...we had traumatic experiences
with the Khmer Rouge regime,” said Nuon in his address
before the participants in the International Conference
on the ICC held in Makati over the weekend.
He
explained that the Cambodian government deposited the
instrument of ratification to the United Nations (UN) in
April 2002 and consequently signed an agreement with the
UN in 2003 to prosecute the leaders of the Khmer Rouge,
as a commitment to the fight against such crimes and
“not allow to let it happen again in our territory.”
Toshikatsu Aoyama, counsel for international legal
affairs of Japan’s foreign ministry, on the other hand,
emphasized Japan’s proactive support to the ICC by being
its biggest financial contributor and by contributing to
its human resources through judges.
Japan
ratified the Rome Statute in July 2007 on the occasion
of the World Day for International Justice and to
contribute to the promotion of the rule of law in the
international community, Aoyama said.
“Japan’s
fundamental position on the ICC is also aimed at
eradicating and preventing the most serious crimes such
as genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and
crimes of aggression,” said Aoyama.
The ICC,
based in The Hague, the Netherlands, was established in
July 17, 1998, after the required number of ratification
of the statute was achieved. It seeks to punish leaders
and groups that commit the most serious crimes against
humanity including genocide and war crimes.
Meanwhile, Ambassador Alistair Macdonald, head of
delegation of the European Commission to the
Philippines, said the European Union (EU) has been
pushing for the ratification of the ICC as part of its
foreign policy, saying the court is “of crucial
importance for the development of international peace
and security.”
Macdonald, however, lamented that while the ICC is
advancing its case on the leaders of Darfur, the
human-rights court remains underrepresented in Southeast
Asia and the Middle East.
He said
since 2003, the EU has allocated a total of €17 million
(about P1 billion) to fund the global campaign for the
ratification of the Rome Statute. The regional bloc has
also allocated €2.6 million to provide grants for
technical assistance that aims to provide wider
understanding on the ICC.
Macdonald also said that it has also integrated the need
for the ratification of the ICC in its negotiations for
bilateral and multilateral trade agreements, including
the proposed free-trade agreement between the EU and the
members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.
The EU’s
proposed partnership cooperation agreement with
individual Asean members include the need to ratify the
Rome Statute before they could qualify in the
comprehensive free-trade deal. Manila has not responded
on the EU’s proposed bilateral deal in the last 18
months since it has yet to resolve its concerns on
ratifying the statute.
The
Philippines has signed the Rome Statute but has yet to
ratify the treaty owing to serious objections of the
military and the police, who fear harassment suits from
communist fronts masquerading as human-rights
organizations owing to their campaign against communist
rebels, Moro separatists and bandits.
The
Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) has recommended the
ratification of the statute in 2003 but until now,
President Arroyo has yet to transmit the instruments of
ratification to the Senate.
A DFA
lawyer, meanwhile, said provisions of the ICC may
contradict existing laws that provide immunity from all
suits to a sitting head of state and the provision of
providing amnesty to former rebels who surrendered to
the government. |
