Kit Siang: Toxic political environment led to Rome Statute retraction

JOHOR BARU: The toxic political environment in Malaysia has forced the government to retract from acceding to the Rome Statute, says DAP adviser Lim Kit Siang (pic).

Describing it as a regressive step for Malaysia, he said many were disappointed with the decision.

“This is not the first time that we have had pulled out, as we made a similar step with the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (Icerd).

“But the rakyat must understand the problem where after 11 months of the general election, our political scene has become so much more toxic, which is a bigger issue,” said Lim, who is Iskandar Puteri MP, after officiating at the closing ceremony of the fifth international biotechnology competition and exhibition held at Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) here Saturday (April 6).

It was reported on Friday (April 5) that Malaysia would withdraw from ratifying the international treaty that covers serious crimes and crimes against humanity.

Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad said the Cabinet has decided not to ratify the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC), which governs the prosecution of perpetrators of genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity and crimes of aggression.

The ICC is the first permanent, treaty-based international criminal court, and its objectiveis to end the impunity for perpetrators of the most serious crimes known to the international community.

It was established in 2002 and is governed by the Rome Statute.

Dubbed the “court of last resort,” ICC takes action against individuals when a government is unwilling or unable to prosecute on any of those four crimes.

The ICC’s powers are limited to only those four crimes – genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity and crimes of aggression. And it only prosecutes individuals, not groups or countries.

The ICC usually only exercises jurisdiction over these crimes if committed by citizens of a country that had acceded or were within that country - unless the UN Security Council refers a situation to the ICC or when a country declares that it accepts the ICC’s jurisdiction.

As of March 18, there were 122 countries that are party to the Rome Statute.

Some countries that have not acceded to the statute include the United States, China, Russia and India.