ArchiveRatification would be an important expression of democratic reform and commitment to the rule of law
Amman, Jordan/New York, NY–Libya’s interim leaders should move quickly to ratify key international human rights and humanitarian law treaties, in particular the Rome Statute, the Coalition for the International Criminal Court (ICC) said today. The Rome Statute is the founding treaty of the ICC, the first permanent international court capable of trying perpetrators of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes.
In a letter sent today to H.E. Mustafa Abdul Jalil, president of the National Transitional Council (NTC), the Coalition stressed that ratifying key humanitarian and human rights instruments would be an important expression of democratic reform and evidence to the Libyan people that their demands for justice and the protection of human rights have been heard.
“The NTC stands in a critical moment. It can come out of the gates ensuring a new path toward justice and accountability as it begins its rebuilding,” said Brigitte Suhr, director of Regional Programs for the Coalition for the ICC. “Ratifying now sends a powerful message that the old way is over and the new way will give respect to hopes and dreams that led to [Muammar] Gaddafi’s downfall.”
The Coalition urged the NTC to take a similar path as Tunisian Interim Government did earlier this year. Following the Tunisian revolution in January 2011 and the ousting of President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, the Tunisian Interim Government’s first cabinet meeting resulted in a decision, conveyed in a press conference that followed, to ratify the Rome Statute, together with other key treaties. In the subsequent months, the Government, among its many other priorities, made good on its decision, publishing its approval of the Rome Statute in the Official Gazette on 19 February 2011 and depositing its instrument of accession to the Rome Statute of the ICC and the Agreement on Privileges and Immunities of the International Criminal Court on 24 and 29 June 2011 respectively, at the United Nations Headquarters in New York.
Currently, the Arab League has four members that are state parties to the ICC: the Comoros Islands, Djibouti, Jordan and most recently Tunisia. The Coalition has long called on all MENA governments to demonstrate their commitment to justice by joining the ICC.
“In this period of transition in the MENA region, the principles embodied by the Rome Statute should be a priority and ratification of the Statute should be seriously considered now more than ever,” said Amal Nassar, MENA program officer for the Coalition. “The time is right in the region to see real change and along with that change, a stronger commitment to justice.”
ICC arrest warrants remain outstanding for Saif Al-Islam Gaddafi, former Libyan government spokesman and son of Muammar Gaddafi, and Abdullah Al-Senussi, former director of military intelligence. In its letter, the Coalition also called on the NTC to arrest the remaining fugitives of justice and transfer them to the ICC.
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