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| |  Parliamentarians for Global Action |
| PGA organizes Working Meeting on ICC in Parliament of Indonesia
Agenda
Media Coverage
PGA Communique
OnFebruary 17, 2009, PGA organized a Working Meeting on the InternationalCriminal Court hosted by the Chairs of Commission III (Law and HumanRights), Commission I (Defense and Foreign Affairs) and the LegislativeCouncil of the Indonesian Parliament. During the course of thisMeeting, Indonesian Parliamentarians from all major political partiescalled for the swift completion of the process of national accession tothe Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC).
The Meeting took place on the occasion of the visit of an international delegation of MPs to Jakarta, led by Canadian Senator A. Raynell Andreychuk (Chair, Human Rights Committee) and included also Australian MP Melissa Parke (Chair,Australian Commission for Law Enforcement Integrity). The PGADelegation was officially acknowledged by the Indonesian House ofRepresentatives upon their arrival in the plenary Parliament Hall andhad a bilateral preparatory meeting with the Indonesian Civil SocietyCoalition for the ICC.
The Working Meeting, attended by more than 50 participants, was opened by PGA Indonesia Chair Dr. Theo Sambuaga MP (Chair, Commission I) and closed by PGA Indonesia Secretary Ms. Nurshyabani Katijasungkana, MP (DeputyChair, Commission III). Both Lawmakers stressed the importance of theICC as a tool to fight impunity and prevent atrocities.
Lawmakers at the Meeting agreed with the key-note speaker Mr. John Holmes,Ambassador of Canada to Indonesia, who recalled that the ICCjurisdiction is non-retroactive, is complementary to domesticjurisdictions and is designed to strengthen national legal systems,which retain the primary responsibility to bring to justice theperpetrators of international concern. Several MPs and Civil Societyorganisations questioned the Government concerning the delay of the ICCAccession process, which was earmarked for completion before the end of2008 in the National Human Rights Plan 2004-09 and was announced byForeign Minister Hassan Wirayuda at a previous PGA event held in Parliament in February 2007.
The Director General for Human Rights of the Department of Law and Human Rights, Prof. Harkristuti Harkrisnowo,explained that the Government has been engaged in an inclusive processof consultations, sensitization and legal drafting, but acknowledgedthat the deadline of 2008 had been missed and that the relevant ICCAccession Bill and explanatory note (the "Academic paper" accompanyingthe Bill) should be now expedited.
All participating MPs concurred on the urgency of the matter, and welcomed a proposal formulated by former Attorney-General Dr. Marzuki Darusman, MP- that the ICC Accession Bill should be approved in Parliament betweenMay and June of 2009, thus allowing Indonesia to become the largest ICCMember State within the current Legislature. All speakers andparticipants agreed that there was no outstanding political or legalobstacle to Indonesia's Accession to the Rome Statute, and that now itis simply a matter of accelerating and completing the necessaryprocedures within the Government, which was urged to transmit the ICCAccession Bill as early as possible. |
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