INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT: FIJI AND GHANA RATIFY THE ROME TREATY

Brussels, December 1, 1999. On 29 November 1999, the Republic of the Fiji Islands signed and ratified the ICC Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court becoming the 5th country party to the convention and the first of the Pacific. The announcement was made by H. E. Ambassador Amraiya NAIDU during the Plenary of the Preparatory Commission, which will meet in New York for three weeks to discuss the Court's rules of Procedure and the Elements of Crime. At the beginning of November the Ghanaian Parliament ratified the ICC Statute; the instruments of ratification will now have to be sent to the UN Secretary General office for the formal deposit.

The Transnational Radical Party and No Peace Without Justice congratulate the Government of Fiji and the Parliament of Ghana on their prompt ratification of the ICC Rome Statute. These two ratifications confirm the fact that the establishment of an effective system of international criminal justice is not an imposition of rich states to developing countries, but that it is a priority of the international community as a whole which sees in states from the South of the world a firm commitment in ending impunity. TRP and NPWJ believe that it will be possible to achieve the 60 needed ratifications for the new Millenium and calls on all governments to do their utmost to expedite their ratification process and to conclude it before the end of the year 2000.

After World War II, the Balkans, the Great Lakes and most recently East Timor, we have said "never again". Through the entry into force of the ICC, we now have the opportunity to bring to justice war criminals and we must seize it.

Transnational Radical Party

No Peace Without Justice

Fax. 00-32-2-230.36.70

Tel. 00-32-2-230.41.21