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December 12, 2004

CALLS TO RATIFY ICC TREATY

International Criminal Court can strengthen human rights protection

An international coalition of more than 2,000 civil society organisations, academics and lawyers called on the government of the Bangladesh to ratify the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC) the treaty that created the world's first permanent court capable of trying individuals, accused of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes when national courts are unable or unwilling to do so.

As the world celebrates the 55th anniversary of the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the NGO Coalition for the International Criminal Court (CICC), whose members include Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), and Parliamentarians for Global Action among others, is calling for Bangladesh to embark upon the process of ratification immediately and be amongst the first 100 States Parties to the ICC.

Although Bangladesh signed the Rome Statute on September 16, 1999, it has yet to ratify the treaty.

Ms. Evelyn Balais-Serrano, coordinator for Asia of the NGO CICC, said "the International Criminal Court is seen as the most significant international tribunal since the courts established to try Nazi leaders after World War II and the most important advancement in human rights protection since the adoption of the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights."

"Bangladesh can make the world more just and help put an end to impunity by ratifying the ICC treaty," She added.

The Rome Statute, the treaty creating the ICC, was adopted on July 17, 1998 and entered into force on July 1, 2002. To date, 97 countries more than half the world have ratified the treaty.

The United Nations General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, a universal standard for promoting human rights, on 10 December 1948. On Human Rights Day, December 10 every year, it is celebrated around the globe that "All human beings are born with equal and inalienable rights and fundamental freedoms".

Source: Coalition for the International Criminal Court-Asia