On August 27 and 28, 2014, Parliamentarians for Global Action (PGA) organized a Parliamentary Seminar and a technical Workshop in the framework of the Campaign for the Rome Statute of the ICC together with the Chamber of Representatives of Uruguay in Montevideo.
These activities aimed to provide a platform for discussion and action concerning the role of Parliamentarians, Government and society as a whole to create the necessary conditions for the adoption of a comprehensive and effective implementing legislation of the Rome Statute, encompassing crimes and general principles of law as a pre-requisite to make possible effective national investigations and prosecutions of international crimes. The seminar also seek to show the importance of the cooperation of State Parties to the Rome Statute with the ICC to as well as the ratification and implementation of the Kampala Review Conference amendments to the Rome Statute concerning the use of certain prohibited weapons as war crimes in non-international armed conflicts and the definition and jurisdictional regime for the crime of aggression.
The discussions brought together over 25 Parliamentarians from 12 different Latin American States, such as Argentina, Bolivia, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Paraguay, Peru and Uruguay, members of the Government led by Uruguayan Director General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Amb. Gustavo Alvarez, other relevant stakeholders and representatives of civil society. In addition, the Seminar benefited from the open remarks of the participation of the European Union Representative in Uruguay, Ms. Claudia Gintersdorfer, who expressed the importance of the Seminar for the region and the full support of the EU to these kind of activities that contribute to the effectiveness of the Rome Statute.
The Parliamentary Seminar held on August 27, 2014, was opened by the President of the Chamber of Representatives, Dip. Aníbal Pereyra Parliamentarians from more than 12 countries in Latin America as well as members of civil society actively participated during the Seminar and the Workshop to address different aspects of the effective implementation of the principle of complementarity in their countries, notably through an appropriate political support and the establishment of an effective legal framework for the fight against impunity.
These events provided Parliamentarians with the necessary tools to boost, in their respective states, the implementation process of the Rome Statute and the enactment of laws that set cooperation mechanisms with the International Criminal Court, as well as, a better understanding of the Kampala amendments in order to promote their ratification and implementation at national level.
The parliamentary Seminar was an instance where, in addition to the introductory presentations by experts in the different topics, Parliamentarians explained the stage of the ICC processes in their own country and analysed the different issues stalling or hampering the adoption of relevant legislation. This event provided an opportunity for all participants to have a broader view of the level of involvement of several Latin-American states with the ICC and to take in consideration the experiences of other countries to overcome obstacles and challenges that could be present in their countries.
The Seminar was closed by the Director General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Uruguay, Amb. Gustavo Alvarez, who insisted on the need to continue with this kind of activities in Latin America to promote the universality of the Rome Statute, the complementatity of the national jurisdiction with the ICC, the cooperation with the Court and the ratification and implementation of the Kampala Amendments, recalling that Uruguay is the first Latin American country that ratified the Kampala Amendments.
On August 28, 2014, experts from different organizations participated in a technical Workshop on implementation of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court in the national legislations of Latin American countries. Mr. Hugo Relva from Amnesty International, Ms. Michelle Reyes from the Coalition for the International Criminal Court, Mr. Armando Meneses from the International Committee for the Red Cross (ICRC) as well as Romina Morello from the Secretariat of PGA contributed to the parliamentary debate. In this workshop, Parliamentarians were able to ask questions to the experts on specific areas related to the implementation of the Rome Statute such as definition of crimes, amnesties, the Kampala amendments as well as issues relating to effective cooperation with the ICC and ad hoc agreements. It was an useful opportunity for Parliamentarians to realize which steps are necessary to incorporate the Rome Statute into the domestic legal system, taking into account that in all national Parliaments there are several bills that require urgent treatment and adoption by relevant committees and specific strategies must be deviced to advance the ICC Bills within complex national agenda.
The two days of intense activities were closed by Dip. Felipe Michelini, Convenor of PGA´s International Law and Human Rights Program, who reaffirmed the commitment of PGA to promote peace, democracy and the fight against impunity in the world, and called upon Parliamentarians to fully implement the Rome Statute and take action on the Kampala Amendments as soon as possible. Dip. Michelini also launched the Parliamentary Campaign to Protect the Integrity of the Rome Statute suggesting the Latin American MPs who were present to launch a parliamentary question to their governments to request a public position on the Amendment to Article 27 presented by the Government of Kenya as well as supporting the adoption in their national parliaments of a declaration AGAINST IMMUNITIES of head of State and Government for the most heinous crimes against the international community as a whole when being investigated and judged by International Tribunals.
As a result of these deliberations, MPS present in the Seminar pledged to support and advance the implementation of the Rome Statute and/or Cooperation with the ICC bills when they were already presented in their parliaments or draft, with the assistance of PGA, the relevant bills to fully comply with the principle of complementarity. Moreover, most of the MPs present committed to take action to request the Government to send the ratification bill of the Kampala Amendments and agree on the importance of the legal principle of equality before the law and rejected the idea of including in article 27 of the Rome Statute immunities of acting Head of State and/or Government.
Moreover, in the framework of the Parliamentary Seminar and technical workshop, Dip. Felipe Michelini and staff from the Secretariat of PGA met with the President of Parlasur, PGA member Dip. Martinez Huelmo and set an strategy to adopt a declaration of the General Assembly of Parlasur urging the parliamentarians of the States Parties of MERCOSUR to take concrete measures to implement the Rome Statute, enact laws of cooperation with the Court and boost the ratification of the Kampala Amendments in their respective countries to give effect to the “human right to peace” via the operationalization of national and international jurisdictions on the crime of aggression. In addition, it was agreed that PGA will assist the Parlasur to draft a reference cooperation law to be considered by the Parliaments of Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Venezuela, Uruguay and soon Bolivia.
