November 7 - 8, 2007 | The Hague, Netherlands

Since 2004, PGA Board Member Dr. Ruth Wijdenbosch, MP (Suriname) has been leading the work within Parliament to make possible the accession of Suriname to the Rome Statute. In July 2007, she formed a Multi-Party Working Group on the ICC to re-activate the ICC process. PGA's Working Group organized a consultation between MPs from the various political parties of Suriname and the Ministers for Foreign Affairs and for Justice. The accession bill was pending approval within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs which would then be sent to the Council of Ministers.

PGA's Working Group has been instrumental in ensuring multi-party support to promptly approve the accession bill in Parliament. In order to further empower the members of the Working Group, PGA organized a mission to The Hague to meet ICC Vice-President Judge Blattman, and other officials at the Court, the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, the Dutch Parliament and Officials from the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY).

The discussions, which focused on the current challenges of the ICC, as well as the great interest that was demonstrated by officials of the ICC and the Dutch authorities in having Suriname support the ICC system, reaffirmed the commitment of the Surinamese legislators to the ICC and to continuing their efforts to enhance the fundamental role that the ICC is playing to achieve international peace and security. The meetings in The Hague also allowed participants to devise a strategy to continue working with their government to ensure that Suriname not only accedes to the Rome Statute but also promotes the ICC system, especially in the Caribbean region.

The Mission of Surinamese MPs to The Hague was supported by the Parliament of Suriname, the European Commission and the Governments of The Netherlands and Switzerland. PGA would like to thank the Standing Foreign Affairs Committee of the Dutch Parliament and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Government of the Netherlands that through its ICC Task Force and Embassy in Paramaribo, have supported and enriched the activities of PGA members in Suriname.

Related Activities: Paramaribo Parliamentary Seminar on International Justice and Security: The Role of the International Criminal Court, June 6 and 7, 2008