Amman/The Hague/New York

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 Representatives in Amman, Jordan.

Acknowledging that while most Governments in the (MENA) Region have expressed support for the ICC, few have taken the necessary steps to ratify or accede to the Rome Statute. This two-day event was jointly organized by Jordan’s House of Representatives and PGA, in order to discuss issues related to the universality of the Rome Statute in the region, and explore ways to advance it’s ratification and/or implementation. The participants included parliamentarians from Iraq, Jordan, Morocco, Oman, Palestine, Somalia, Turkey, Tunisia, Yemen, as well as the EU and Italian Ambassadors, representatives from the ICC, the ICRC and the Ramallah Center for Human Rights.

The Working Group on the Universality of the Rome Statute of the ICC in the MENA 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 goal for the Group is: “To reinforce the rule of law and principles of democracy by promoting universal participation in the ICC system and full adherence to the Statute’s norms through effective national implementation of the Rome Statute in national legal orders, with a particular focus on the Middle East and the Mediterranean”. 

The working group consultations were under the auspices of H.E. Hon. Eng. Atef Tarawneh, the Speaker of the House of Representatives of Jordan, with opening statements by H.E. Amb. Patrizio Fondi, Ambassador of Italy to Jordan, H.E. Amb. Tiina Intelmann, President of the Assembly of States Parties to the Rome Statute for the ICC and Hon. Prof. Yusuf Irbec, MP (Turkey), Member of the Executive Committee of PGA. 

H.E. The Speaker of Jordan’s House of Representatives stressed that Jordan’s parliament appreciates the efforts of the PGA Working Group and highly respects the principles of the Rome Statute that are leading to enhancing the Rule of Law and the democratic principles and is glad that Jordan, as a state party to the ICC, is involved in the ICC system. He confirmed that Jordan supports the implementation of the Rome Statute nationally and expressed his hope that more states would opt for the ratification and implementation of the Rome Statute.

I am grateful for the recognition from parliamentarians and civil society from Arab countries to the Rome Statute, and for reminding their region of the continued relevance and necessity of this independent and permanent international criminal court which the international community established in 1998. The current victimization of entire populations in the region confronts us with extraordinary challenges, and reminds us of the role that international criminal justice plays for sustainable peace. I hope your efforts are soon transformed in steady ratifications to the Rome Statute from the region. H.E. Amb. Tiina Intelmann, President of the Assembly of States Parties to the Rome Statute for the ICC

The invitation addressed to Iraq by PGA to attend this meeting reflects the needs of Iraq and other states present to join the ICC and ratify the Rome Statute as soon as possible in order to protect our people from the continuing suffering caused by terrorist crimes and gross violations of human rights that amount to war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity. This time we have to stop this tragedy! Hon. Faig Alsheakh Ali, PGA Member from the Parliament of Iraq

The Rome Statute System is essential for the fight against impunity for the most serious crimes of concern to humanity. It is important for Turkey, as a member of the Council of Europe, to ratify the Rome Statute as soon as possible to join the group of nations under the international Rule of Law. On behalf of Parliamentarians for Global Action, and as a member of its Board, I want to thank the Parliament of Jordan for its kind hospitality and for promoting democracy and the rule of law in the Middle East and its neighboring countries; and the European Commission for it’s continued support of our work. Hon. Prof. Dr. Yusuf Zia Irbec, Executive Committee Member of PGA and Member of Parliament from Turkey

During the 6th Session of the MENA Working Group for the ICC all participants recognized the importance of the fight against impunity and committed to work internally on advancing their ratification and/or domestic implementation processes. PGA highly appreciates the efforts of its Member Hon. Jamil Nimri, MP towards the positive outcome of this Working Group Meeting.