Since Haiti has taken a path towards fostering a fertile ground for the ratification of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC), PGA has organized a Parliamentary Mission to the Parliament and Government of Haiti to contribute to the furtherance of the country’s engagement with international justice and to promote Ratification of the Rome Statute.
The aim of the mission was to reinforce the political will to fight against impunity for the most serious crimes of international concern in the future through the ratification of the Rome Statute and its complete implementation. While clarifying the mandate of the ICC, the mission addressed issues such as: the non-retroactivity of the Rome Statute, its operation being independent from political bodies, the principle of complementarity and participation and reparation for victims. Additionally, the mission sought to explain that the ICC is not a "court of human rights" and it does not deal with violations of human rights, given the very serious threshold that must be reached to trigger the configuration for crimes under the Rome Statute.
The mission allowed for the sharing of experiences of ratification of other countries in which PGA members had an influence; the developments on the positions of the great powers such as the United States in relation to the ICC, and conveying the idea of the importance of a universal system of international justice, in particular a Latin America without impunity and to have the presence of Haiti in this system of the ICC.
The discussions held with the legislative, judicial and executive powers, civil society and the diplomatic community, emphasized the importance and necessity of cooperation of all stakeholders to support and facilitate the ratification of the Rome Statute, in order to respond effectively to the statement by the Prime Minister of Haiti, on 24 September 2012, at the UN General Assembly during the thematic debate on the rule of law, in which he pledged in favor of the ratification of the Rome Statute as soon as possible.
The Parliamentary Delegation consisted of:
- Hon. Pindi Chana (Tanzania), President of the International Council of PGA, Minister of Family Affairs, Youth, and Gender
- Ms. Margareta Cederfelt (Sweden), Treasurer of PGA, Member of the Parliament of Sweden, Member of the Parliamentary Assembly of OSCE
- Hon. Julio César Valentín (Dominican Republic/PLD), Member of PGA, former President of the House of Representatives of the Dominican Republic
- Dip. Ronny Monge Salas, MP (Costa Rica), PGA Member
- The Secretary-General and other representatives of the PGA Secretariat in The Hague and New York.
