September 12, 2014 | New York / The Hague

The Hon. Haider Al-Abadi
Prime Minister of the Republic of Iraq
Baghdad, Iraq

Hon. Mr. Al-Abadi,

I am pleased to write to you as the President of Parliamentarians for Global Action (PGA), a global network of more than 1,100 parliamentarians from 140 countries with democratically-elected parliaments around the world who promote peace, democracy, the rule of law and human rights.

On behalf of PGA, I would like to welcome your designation as Prime Minister on 8 September 2014. We trust that you will successfully handle the extremely delicate situation in the country at the moment and that you will display leadership and resolve to bring about peace, stability, human rights, justice, sustainable development and the Rule of Law for the benefit of the people of Iraq. In this respect, we would be honoured if you would consider PGA, the largest global parliamentary network, as a respectful partner of your endavours to achieve these goals.

As you certainly already know, Iraq is one of the countries from the Middle East that has not yet become a party to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC). The ratification of the Rome Statute by Iraq will build a strong guarantee to avoid impunity for crimes against humanity, including those perpetrated in the last months by the so-called Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS).

We are confident that Iraq will make significant progress under your leadership on economic development and human security, and the ratification of the Rome Statute will leave an additional important legacy for future generations by advancing the cause of accountability, justice and deterrence for human rights abuses.

In this respect, the acceptance by Iraq of the new system of international justice established by the Rome Statute of the ICC may be seen as an important political and symbolic move by your country, even if such a ratification is completely independent from the issue of accountability for past crimes given the non-retroactive nature of the ICC. We are, therefore, looking forward to your leadership to ensure that Iraq becomes a State Party to the Rome Statute as soon as possible by sending, as the Prime Minister of Iraq, the relevant legislative bill to Parliament.

Allow me to use this opportunity to underscore that the ratification of the Rome Statute will strengthen the national judicial system of Iraq. The implementation of the Rome Statute in Iraq will be a strong tool to deal with massive violations of human rights, and thus can help to advance the current process of reconciliation and justice in transition in Iraq. The national system will be reinforced as national courts will have jurisdiction over the crimes of the Rome Statute through the inclusion of the relevant provisions on the most serious crimes under the ICC jurisdiction. The incorporation of international principles and standards included in the Statute will certainly reinforce the existing system for fair trials and independence of justice. The Statute indeed recognizes, through the principle of complementarity, that states have the primary responsibility to prosecute persons allegedly responsible for crimes under international law, and the Court will only be able to act when the State is unwilling or unable to put an end to impunity.

The people of Iraq have recently suffered a tragic history. Enough is enough: peace and justice must now go “hand-in-hand” and there has to be an end to impunity for the most serious crimes affecting the civilian populations of Iraq, namely war crimes, crimes against humanity and, in the case of certain religious groups targeted by ISIS, the crime of genocide.

In our humble view, the ratification by Iraq will help to consolidate a multi-party platform in support of the principle of “never again”, a vital legacy of your Premiership term and a promise to future generations.

Indeed, the ratification of the Rome Statute might have, in the long run, a deterrent effect on the commission of crimes by ensuring that there is no safe-haven and no impunity, which are pre-conditions for peace, stability, development and the protection of human rights, as there is no sustainable peace without justice and no justice as long as there is impunity for mass atrocities, which are causing further hatred and violent revenge.

We would like to offer you our full support, both technical and political, with respect to the possible transmission of the Rome Statute to the Legislative Assembly for ratification, which will enable Iraq to become the third State Party to the Rome Statute in the MENA region.

Thank you in advance for your consideration of this important matter and please receive, Honorable Prime Minister Al-Abadi, the assurances of our highest consideration.

Yours sincerely,

Mr. Ross Robertson, MP (New Zealand, Assistant Speaker), President, Parliamentarians for Global Action (PGA)