PGA Political Consultations on the International Criminal Court and the Arms Trade Treaty in Jamaica
PGA Member Senator Julio César Valentín Jiminián(Dominican Republic), accompanied by Peter Barcroft, Director of Projects, PGA today met with The Minister of State in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade of Jamaica, Hon. Arnaldo Brown MP in Kingston, Jamaica and a representative from the Office of the Chief Parliamentary Counsel.The purpose of this visit was to brief the Minister on PGA, its 3 programmes and, in particular, its ongoing substantive and extensive work on ICC ratification and support for the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT).
Senator Valentín also took the opportunity to inquire regarding the current status of ICC ratification in Jamaica, noting that Jamaica was currently one of only a very small number of CARICOM countries that has yet to become party to the Rome Statute. In response, Minister Brown signaled that Jamaica had no objections to the Rome Statute per se – it was essentially a matter of process and procedure - and that the matter was now before the office of the Chief Parliamentary Counsel to conduct a thorough analysis vis-à-vis legislation that will need to be put in place to give effect to the Rome Statute in Jamaican law, once it has become party to the Treaty. The Minister indicated that it was a priority of his government to get through a large legislative package in the current and next legislative sessions/cycles of parliament. While the Minister was not in a position to guarantee that the ICC related draft legislation would be part of this package, his government was certainly committed to introducing legislation for all outstanding legislative issues without undue delay.
The Minister also confirmed Jamaica’s strong support for the Arms Trade Treaty. Jamaica, with its own challenges regarding the multitude of guns/weapons in circulation within the country itself, understood very well the importance of concluding this Treaty and would be participating in the upcoming ATT Diplomatic Conference at UN Headquarters in New York in July 2012.
Following his meeting with the Minister of State, Senator Valentín proceeded to Gordon House, the Parliament of Jamaica where he visited the Parliamentary Chamber and met briefly with a number of prominent Legislators and current Government Cabinet Ministers, including Hon. Phillip Paulwell, MP Minister of Science, Technology, Energy and Mining, Hon.Rev. Ronald Thwaites, MP, Minister of Education, Hon. Robert Pickersgill MP, Minister for the Environment and Hon. Pearnel Charles MP, former Cabinet Minister. Senator Valentín explained the purpose of his visit to Jamaica to the Ministers during the course of these informal exchanges.
For further information on this event, please contact Director of Projects, Mr. Peter Barcroft at Peter.Barcroft@pgaction.org
