New York/The Hague, 12 September 2012
Members of Parliamentarians for Global Action (PGA), Members of the Parliament (MPs) of the Republic of Malawi, are calling on their Government to take all the necessary steps to comply with its obligations under International Law and implement the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC) into Malawi’s national legal system through the “International Criminal Court Act 2012”. Malawi ratified the Rome Statute and became a State Party in 2002, but is still lacking the legislation on these most serious crimes of concern for the international community as a whole.
Selected Statements from PGA members in Malawi:
Hon. Godfrey Kamanya, MP, Malawi – Member of PGA
We, Parliamentarians, respectfully believe that the Republic of Malawi risks failing to fulfill its obligation as a State Party to the Rome Statute to cooperate with the International Criminal Court as long as the Republic of Malawi is lacking legislation that is implementing the material provisions of the Rome Statute of the ICC into national criminal law. The International Criminal Court Act 2012, that had been presented to the Honorable Attorney General, shall therefore implement the Rome Statute of the ICC into Malawi’s domestic legislation and prevent reoccurrence of violations of Malawi’s legal obligations under the Rome Statute due to the lack of implementing legislation. The Parliament is ready to mobilize itself on a bipartisan basis to ensure swift adoption of this legislation, which is based on the Commonwealth Model Law of 2011, which also received the expert-input of PGA. Adopting this legislation will further re-assure the International Community that Malawi will be ready to execute pending Arrest Warrants issued by the ICC.
Hon. Ephraim Kayembe, MP, Malawi – Member of PGA
On behalf of Parliamentarians for Global Action, I join my colleagues in calling on my government to comply with its obligations under international law and towards the international community, and to fully implement the Rome Statute of the ICC into Malawi’s national legal system through the “International Criminal Court Act 2012”. Full implementation of the Rome Statute into our national legal system is needed to promote the fight against impunity and a culture of zero tolerance for perpetrators of genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes.
About PGA – www.pgaction.org
Parliamentarians for Global Action (PGA) is a network of members of parliament from all regions of the world who, in their individual capacity, have pledged to mobilize political will for the effective operation of the ICC and domestic jurisdictions to end impunity.
Members of PGA have contributed to 75 of the 121 ratifications of, or accession to the Rome Statute to date. PGA is a member of the Steering Committee of the Coalition for the ICC.
The PGA Campaign for the Universality and Effectiveness of the Rome Statute system receives support from the European Commission, European Union and the Governments of The Netherlands and Switzerland, as well as from Humanity United.
CONTACT:
International Law and Human Rights Programme Contacts:
The Hague - Dr. David Donat Cattin
Senior Director, Int’l Law & Human Rights Programme
Mob. +39.333.166.0309
New York - Ms. Leyla Nikjou
Programme Officer
Tel. +1.212.687.7755 (ext 104)
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