Parliamentary action was triggered by the PGA Rome Statute Campaign

On March 21, 2023, Uruguay deposited with the Secretary-General of the United Nations in New York its instruments of ratification of all the amendments to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC) on war crimes. These amendments not only ensure the criminalization of starvation as a method of war in Non International Armed Conflicts (NIAC), but also align the list of prohibited weapons in NIAC to the list applicable to International Armed Conflicts under the Rome Statute as adopted on July 17, 1998.

Additionally, Uruguay ratified the amendment that deletes the controversial transitional-provision of Article 124 from the Statute. Under such provision, States could suspend the jurisdiction of the ICC on war crimes for 7 years upon ratification of the treaty.

As illustrated by the recent arrest warrants issued by the ICC against the President of the Russian Federation and the Russian Commissioner on Children Rights, investigating and prosecuting war crimes is essential to the mandate of the ICC, which is "to put an end to impunity for the most serious crimes of concern to the International Community as a whole".

Sen. José Carlos Mahía, former President of the Chamber of Representatives and leading member of PGA in Latin America, welcomed this development, which was the culmination of many years of work by the PGA National Group in Uruguay.

The parliamentary approval of the amendments took place on 1 November 2022 during an Ordinary Plenary Session of both Houses of Parliament. This positive development took place ahead of PGA’s Consultative Assembly of Parliamentarians on the ICC and the Rule of Law (CAP-ICC), in Buenos Aires, on 3-4 November 2022.

Sen. Carlos Mahia

Uruguay

Uruguay is a proud Member of the ICC, and when our parliamentary initiative to ratify all the amendments to the Rome Statute on war crimes gained multi-partizan support both in the Senate and the Chamber of Representatives, we honoured the legacy of our unforgotten colleague Felipe Michelini, who represented Uruguay at the Kampala Review Conference that adopted the first amendments to the Rome Statute and had been a champion for the ratification and domestic implementation of the Statute in 2002 and 2006

We call upon all law-abiding nations of the world to ratify the Rome Statute and its amendments on war crimes and the crime of aggression, and to support the ICC as an indispensible tool for justice and accountability, so that its jurisdiction can become truly universal. Sen. Carlos Mahia, former President of the Senate and leading member of PGA in Latin America

Since 2020, a parliamentary initiative was commenced by PGA Members in Uruguay asking the Government to give effect to its commitments under the Rome Statute, regarding which Parliament had already approved its ratification. Ratifying the Statute already encompassed the jurisdiction of the Court on the above-mentioned war crimes as punishable offenses when committed in inter-State wars.

A delegation from Uruguay participated in the CAP-ICC, during which they adopted a Plan of Action urging all Parliaments and Governments of the world to ratify and implement fully the amended Rome Statute.