UN confirms Malaysia's withdrawal from Rome Statute, says Wisma Putra

PUTRAJAYA: The United Nations secretary-general has confirmed Malaysia’s withdrawal as a signatory of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC).

In a statement, Wisma Putra said the withdrawal as a member nation of the treaty took effect on April 29, which was the date the Malaysian government submitted a withdrawal letter to the secretary-general.

“Information on the confirmation (of the withdrawal) has been uploaded onto the UN website Thursday (May 16) morning.

“Following this, Malaysia has been removed as a signatory of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court,” the Foreign Ministry said in a statement (Thursday).

Further information on the matter can be obtained at the United Nations Treaty Collection at https://treaties.un.org/doc/Publication/CN/2019/CN.185.2019-.pdf.

Malaysia was still listed as a member nation of the treaty on Wednesday (May 15) and the UN resident coordinator in Malaysia was called to explain to the ministry on the process and the latest status.

The government had issued a withdrawal letter to UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres on April 29 to inform the international body of Malaysia’s withdrawal from ratifying the treaty.

This comes following Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s announcement on April 5 that Malaysia would not be ratifying the treaty.

Wisma Putra had then said that Malaysia would be removed from the list after the UN completes the necessary procedures.

The ICC is the first permanent, treaty-based international criminal court.

Its objective is to end impunity against perpetrators of the most serious crimes - genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity and crimes of aggression.

Only individuals and not countries could be taken to task at the ICC.