September 14 - 17, 2011 | The Hague, Netherlands

Organized by PGA, a Delegation of 3 Members of the Constituent Delegation of Nepal participated in a series of high level bilateral meetings at the International Criminal Court in mid September 2011. The Delegation, comprising of Mr. Khimlal Devkota MP, Mr. Ramesh Lekhak MP and Mr. Pradeep Gyawali MP met separately with the President of the International Criminal Court, Judge Sang-Hyun Song, senior officials from the Office of the Prosecutor of the ICC as well as with Ms. Sylvana Arbia, the Registrar of the ICC. The Delegation was accompanied by the President ad Interim of PGA, Dr. Ruth Wijdenbosch MP (Suriname) and senior PGA Staff.

During the course of these individual sessions, the Delegation from Nepal received extensive briefings on the terms of reference of the ICC and the parameters within which each organ of the Court works. A lively interactive/question and answer session also took place following each of these briefings where the members of the Delegation from Nepal were able to obtain more information and clarifications on specific issues. Following the conclusion of these briefings, the Delegation was able to observe a live Hearing/Trial session of the ICC.

During the course of their visit to the ICC, the Delegation also visited the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) where they were able to observe a live Hearing/Session of the Radovan Karadzic trial.

In addition to the above meetings/sessions, PGA arranged for the Delegation from Nepal to meet at the Dutch Parliament in the Hague with PGA Executive Committee Member Mr. Coşkun Çörüz MP as well as Ms. Ingrid de Caluwé MP and Mr. Harry van Bommel MP, all members of the Parliament's Foreign Affairs Committee. During the course of these meetings, the Delegation from Nepal was able to brief their counterparts in the Dutch parliament on the current status of the Rome Statute of the ICC in Nepal as well as ask certain questions regarding Dutch government policy on Nepal in general. The MPs from the Netherlands also took advantage of this opportunity to obtain more information on the current state of affairs in Nepal, including prospects for ratification of the Rome Statute of the ICC.

Upon their return to Nepal, the Members of the Delegation briefed the PGA National Group on their visit, as well as very high level political officials within their respective countries.

On 4th October 2011, Ramesh Lekhak MP, and following his participation in this PGA Delegation from Nepal to The Netherlands, wrote an article on 'The Rome Statute and Impunity' in the Ekantipur newspaper in Kathmandu, one of the most widely read media sources in Nepal.

PGA remains in active contact, and continues to liaise closely and individually with this Delegation of Parliamentarians from Nepal and the PGA National Group in Kathmandu with a view to conducting ongoing assessments and new strategies for moving forward the process of ratification of the Rome Statute of the ICC in Nepal.

For further information on PGA's Campaign for the Rome Statute of the ICC in Nepal, please contact Mr. Peter Barcroft, Senior Program Officer, International Law & Human Rights Program at peter.barcroft@pgaction.org