15-16 October 2014
Parliament of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan
Amman, Jordan

On October 15-16th the 6th Session of PGA’s Working Group on the Universality of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) Region was held at the House of the Representatives in Amman, Jordan, While most Governments in the (MENA) Region have expressed support for the ICC and the fight against impunity for crimes under international law, few have taken the necessary steps to ratify or accede to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC).

As of today, while 122 State are parties to the Rome Statute, in the Middle East and North Africa only Jordan in 2002 and Tunisia in 2011 decided to join the only permanent system of international criminal justice[1]. In this context, the Working Group on the Universality of the Rome Statute of the ICC in the Middle East and Mediterranean region was created by Parliamentarians for Global Action (PGA) on the occasion of a parliamentary conference and related consultations held in Cairo, Egypt, in 2005. The PGA Parliamentary Campaign for the Effectiveness and Universality of the Rome Statute System organised subsequent sessions of the Working Group in the Parliaments of Lebanon in Beirut (2006), The Netherlands in The Hague (2007), Bahrain in Manama (2009) and Morocco in Rabat (2012).

This two-day event, which marked the 6th session of this Working group, was organized by the House of Representatives of Jordan and Parliamentarians for Global Action, at the initiative of Hon. Jamil Nimri, MP (Jordan), Member of PGA, in order to create political support and discuss issues related to the universality of the Rome Statute in the region and explore the best ways to advance and possibly complete the ratification or implementation of the Rome Statute. The participants included 30 parliamentarians from Iraq, Jordan, Morocco, Oman, Palestine, Somalia, Turkey, Tunisia, Yemen; the Head of the EU Delegation in Amman, the Ambassador of Italy to Jordan, the ICC, the ICRC and the Ramallah Center for Human Rights.

The Opening of the working group consultations was undertaken by Hon. Atef Tarawneh, Speaker of the House of Representatives of Jordan, Amb. Tiina Intelmann, President of the Assembly of States Parties to the Rome Statute for the ICC, Amb. Patrizio Fondi, Ambassador of Italy to Jordan on behalf of the EU Presidency, and Prof. Yusuf Irbec, MP (Turkey), Member of the Executive Committee of PGA.

The meeting followed a format of closed-door political, legal and strategic consultations among a selected group of Parliamentarians from the region whereby experts and ICC officials were invited to provide specific input and to participate in inter-active dialogue.

Hon. Atef Tarawneh, Speaker of the House of Representatives of the Parliament of Jordan, confirmed his respect to the principles of the Rome Statute that are leading to enhancing the Rule of Law and the democratic principles, underling thus importance of Jordan being involved in the ICC system as a state party to the ICC. He confirmed that Jordan is also seeking to implement the Rome Statute nationally and he encouraged the other participating Parliamentarians to work in their states towards ratification and implementation of the Rome Statute as well.

Amb. Tiina Intelmann, President of the Assembly of States Parties to the Rome Statute for the ICC, reminded the continued relevance and necessity for the region of having an independent and permanent international criminal, which plays an important role for sustainable peace. She urged the Parliamentarians present in the meeting to continue their efforts towards ratifications to the Rome Statute.

Amb. Fondi (Italy) recalled the importance of Parliaments, which are at the heart of democracy. He called on Parliamentarians and the international community to ensure the universality of the Rome Statute system so as to guarantee that there are no safe havens for those committing mass atrocities.

Mr. Anton Steynberg, Senior Trial Lawyer in the Office of the Prosecutor of the ICC, presented the latest developments at the ICC and helped diffuse misunderstanding and misperception on the work of the Court, in particular related to the situations of Palestine and Syria. Given the inability of the ICC to deal with those cases as it lacks jurisdiction over those countries and the overwhelming number of national implicated in these armed conflicts, given that States with the closest links have not yet ratified the Rome Statute, he called on for more ratifications in order to ensure the universality of the ICC system, in which the most serious crimes of international concern are not left unaccounted for. He also recalled that, as first permanent court, the ICC is in a unique position to make use of its potential deterrent effect, as opposed to the past practise of establishment of only ad hoc tribunals as a consequence of the commission of atrocities, since in the ICC system perpetrators know they may be held accountable.

The Working Group also benefitted from the active participation of Dr. Cherif Attlam, Chief Justice of the Court of Appeals of Egypt and Honorary Expert, International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), Mr. Suhaib Al Sharif, General Manager, Ramallah Center for Human Rights, as well as of the presence of the Head of the EU delegation Amb. Joanna Wronecka. The Working group was co-moderated by Hon. Jamil Nimri (Jordan), Prof. Yusuf Irbec MP (Turkey), on behalf of the PGA Board, and Dr. David Donat Cattin, Secretary General of PGA.

During the discussions, all participants recognized the importance of the fight against impunity and committed to work internally on advancing their ratification and/or domestic implementation processes, bearing in mind the non-retroactive nature of ratification. To this effect, the participants identified action plans and strategies with recommendations and specific measures to undertake.

The Universality of the Rome Statute in Iraq, Morocco, Oman, Palestine, Somalia, Turkey and Yemen

The Working Group Meeting has been successful in renewing the membership of parliamentarians to PGA and its Campaign on the ICC in the context of civil wars, humanitarian crises and political unrest in the region.

In respect of Iraq, the new PGA member Mr. Fahk el Sheikh Ali, MP, made a firm commitment to launch a ratification campaign, in particular in recognition of the fact that the response to ISIS cannot be solely military, humanitarian, cultural and socio-economic, but should also include accountability, in compliance with international human rights standards.

Mr. Mohamed Benabdessadeq, MP, former Chair of the Justice and Human Rights Committee and PGA member, underscored that the ratification process in Morocco is only a matter of time, given that the policy of Morocco supports the Rome Statute system. PGA’s 8^th Consultative Assembly of Parliamentarians for the ICC and the Rule of Law, to be held on in the Parliament of Morocco on 4-5 December, should serve as catalyst towards ratification and full implementation, on the basis of the new Article 23 of the Moroccan Constitution, which already outlaws genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes. Mr. Benabdessadeq thus confirmed that, in preparation to the ratification process, the House of Representatives will work on incorporating the definition of the crimes and the general principles contained in the Rome Statute in the revised Penal Code.

In Oman, Mr. Alhinai Zahran, MP, leader of his delegation and new member of PGA, committed to report in the Majlis A'shura and to his government on the importance and relevance of ICC ratification, in order to close the impunity gap worldwide. He also called on a reinforced cooperation between the United Nations and the ICC, especially with the UN Security Council, also referring to the need to avoid double-standards in the practise of the Council (see more on this at PGA Chatham house SC report).

Ms. Najat Abu Baker, Member of the Legislative Council of Palestine and new PGA member, explained the complexity of the ratification process due to the Israeli-Palestinian long-lasting conflict. She however recognised the importance of accountability and justice, which she stated has been missing in Palestine and affirmed that the ratification could have a deterrent effect. She encouraged action from the international community to encourage the government of Palestine to ratify the Rome Statute.

Due to the geographical proximity of Somalia with some Middle Eastern countries such as Yemen and Oman, and in light of similar challenges faced by Somalia with countries of the region regarding rebel groups active in their territory, Somali MPs have requested the PGA Secretariat to be included in this session of the Working group. During the discussions, new PGA member Mr. Abdirahman Hosh Jibril, MP, Former Minister of Constitutional Affairs and Reconciliation of the Transitional Federal Government of Somalia, confirmed his strong commitment to launch the ratification process in Somalia by raising awareness and creating political will within the public opinion, the Parliament and the government, highlighting the imperative for Somalia to join the Rome Statute system in the context of the continued attacks by Al-Shabab against the population. Along with Mr. Abdi Ali Hassan, MP and new PGA Member (Chair of the National Electoral Commission), Mr. Hosh highlighted the priority to create a close alliance with Somali and international civil society organisations to achieve the goal of accession to the Rome Statute.

In Turkey, Mr. Yusuf Ziya Irbec, MP, Member of the PGA Executive Committee, reaffirmed his commitment and continued engagement within the Parliament and with the government on the ratification of the Rome Statute. He highlighted, however, the contradiction within Turkey’s official positions, which include the Government strong support for accountability regarding Syria’s mass atrocities and the lack of progress in the last 10 years on the ratification of the Rome Statute, which at that time Prime Minister Erdogan had publicly pledged to ratify in 2004 in his address to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) has after an important ICC-clause had been incorporated by Parliament in the Turkish Constitution in 2003.

Finally, the meeting led to elaborate a strategy with the 3 participating PGA Members from Yemen towards  completion of the ICC Ratification by Yemen, which is the only country in MENA that has an ICC Ratification Bill already transmitted by the Government to Parliament. In particular, Mr. Ali Ashal, MP (government party), Member of PGA, promised to continue working on de-blocking the ICC dossier in the Constitutional Affairs Committee of his Parliament, where the ICC ratification bill currently is. Of course the current emergential situation in Sana’a and the rest of the country is posing a challenge for Parliament to convene and deliberate on this and other matters in its agenda.

The Implementation of the Rome Statute in Jordan and Tunisia

Confirming the firm commitment of Hon. Atef Tarawneh, Speaker of the House of Representatives of Jordan, to implement the Rome Statute, PGA Member Hon. Jamil Nimri, MP, ensured to work with a multiparty group within the House of Representatives but also the Senate, notably those present during the discussions, to incorporate the crimes, general principles and cooperation provisions of the Rome Statute into the domestic legal order.

PGA Member Mrs. Souad Abderrahim, Chair of the Legislation and Foreign Affairs Committee of the Constituent National Assembly of Tunisia, affirmed her strong commitment to ensure that the Parliament would receive from the government the draft legislation to implement the Rome Statute.

Reinforcement of the Role of Parliamentarians in the Middle East

The central role of PGA and this Working Group is to enhance the democratisation of the decision-making process regarding the fight against impunity through reinforcing the position of Parliamentarians and their exercise of their legislative and political prerogatives. The 6^th Meeting of the Working sought to fulfil this role by creating ownership and empowering parliamentarians to take up this issue.

Thus, during the meeting Parliamentarians evidenced their genuine interest and commitment to advance the ratification and implementation processes by recognising the importance and impact it would have on the stability of the region, also by ensuring accountability at the domestic level and that no immunities based on official capacity of alleged perpetrators shall be recognised, in accordance with the provisions of the Rome Statute and a pre-existing norm of customary international law. At the request of several Parliamentarians, PGA will provide technical assistance and cooperation to accompany them in their respective ICC related processes.