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CICC-Infoニュースレター、Fayazuddin Ahmad（ANICCプログラム・コーディネーター）より

PRESS RELEASE

[27 November 2001 Bangkok, Thailand]

CAMBODIA ・1ST ASEAN COUNTRY TO RATIFY THE
INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT TREATY

Cambodia痴 national assembly has approved the ICC
ratification bill in its session yesterday. With the
senate痴 concurrence and the King痴 signature,
Cambodia will be the first country in the ASEAN and
South Asia to ratify the Rome treaty creating the
International Criminal Court.

With already 47 out of 60 required ratifications to
create the court, and with more and more commitments
from governments to ratify soon, it is predicted that
the court, to be established in the Netherlands will
become a reality within the next year.

The Rome Statute, adopted by 120 countries in 1998 in
Rome will be the first permanent institution that
will try persons for most serious crimes under
international law: genocide, crimes against humanity,
war crimes and the crime of aggression.

典his is a landmark decision, a pioneering one for the
campaign for ratification in the region.・says Somchai
Homlaor, secretary-general of Bangkok-based
Forum-Asia, the focal point for the campaign for
ratification in the ASEAN of the global network, the
Coalition for an International Criminal Court.

的t is hoped that other countries in the Asian region
realizes the significance of ratifying the Rome treaty
and follow Cambodia痴 bold move to be among the first
60 countries in the assembly of state parties that
will be convened after the 60th ratification. With
Cambodia痴 similar move to set up a national tribunal
to try the Khmer Rouge leaders for the atrocities
committed from 1975 to 1979, its latest recognition of
ICC puts it at the rank of those nations striving to
put an end to impunity and making the rule of law and
justice prevail.・
Together with its network members in Cambodia, ADHOC
and LICADHO and other members within the Asian Network
for the International Criminal Court (ANICC) and with
support from various agencies including the European
Union, the Norwegian Embassy, Open Society Institute,
Ford Foundation and others, they paved the way for
this initial yet major success in Cambodia.

Cambodia was the second country to sign after Thailand
and later followed by the Philippines last year. 139
countries have signed since its adoption in 1998, 10
of which are in Asia. In the entire region, only two
so far have ratified, Tajikistan and Cambodia. Others
that signed were Mongolia, Republic of Korea,
Kyrgyztan, Bangladesh, Iran, Uzbekistan and
Tajikistan.

[Source: FORUM ASIA]