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Ref. 1/4/5112/6

10 September 1999

Hon. Olivier Dupuis

Member of European Parliament

BRUSSELS

Belgium

Honourable Sir

RATIFICATION OF ROME STATUTE OF INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT

On behalf of my Minister, Hon. Theo-Ben Gurirab (who is in New York for an extended period as President-elect of the United Nations General Assembly), I hereby acknowledge with thanks your letter of 12 August 1999 on the above subject matter.

Namibia, together with :the other member states of the Southern Africa Development Community(SADC), played a positive and effective role in the negotiations at the United Nations Diplomatic Conference of Plenipotentiaries in Rome, which culminated in the adoption of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. In fact, the SADC common position on the establishment of the International Criminal Court was adopted at Swakopmund, Namibia, on 28 April 1998 by all the Ministers of Justice/Attorney-Generals of the SADC countries. Last July the SADC Workshop on the Ratification of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, held in Pretoria, South Africa, prepared an "International Criminal Court Ratification Kit - Model Enabling Act". This kit is aimed at assisting the SADC countries, where applicable, to amend their legislation so as to enable them to ratify the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. Namibia signed the Rome Statute on 27 October 1998.

Thus, as will be noted from the aforementioned, the process for the ratification of the Rome Statute is receiving collective, sub-regional as well as individual attention. In Namibia, the ratification process is progressing satisfactorily and in due course the necessary instrument should be ready for tabling in the National Assembly.

Finally, I wish to assure you that it is appreciated that the constitutional commitment of the Republic of Namibia to foster respect for international law and obligations is acknowledged.

Yours sincerely

Tuliameni Kalomoh

Acting Minister of Foreign Affairs