The International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and its affiliated organisation in Yemen, Sisters Arab Forum for Human Rights (SAF) welcome the announcement of the Yemeni Parliament to put the ratification of the Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC) on the agenda of the next session.
Two years after launching their ratification campaign and the creation of the Yemeni Coalition for the ICC, FIDH and SAF urge the Yemeni Members of Parliament to vote for the ratification of the Statute of the ICC.
FIDH and SAF believe that the ratification of the Rome Statute by Yemen could raise Yemen as an example for the Arab region in the fight against impunity and the respect and promotion of international justice and human rights, and allow a more active implication and participation of Yemen in the development of the ICC.
The ICC, created in 2002, is indeed an important instrument in the fight against impunity all over the world. 100 States are parties to the ICC, that is already functionning with 4 situations referred to the ICC (Uganda, Democratic Republic of Congo, Central African Republic, Darfur - Sudan), 1 non State Party having recognized the juridiction of the Court over the crimes committed on its territory (Ivory Coast) and 3 investigations opened by the Prosecutor of the ICC. However, in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, only Jordan and Djibuti have ratified the Rome Statute.
For these reasons, FIDH and SAF call upon the Yemen Parliamentarians to make all efforts to ensure that:
– Yemen becomes a State party to the ICC by ratifying, during the next Parliamentary session, the Rome Statute;
– Yemen implements the Rome Statute in its domestic law in order to allow the national jurisdictions to exercise the principle of complementarity with the ICC;
– Yemen ratifies the Agreement on Privileges and Immunities of the ICC;
– Yemen plays an important role in the MENA region and shares its experience to promote the ICC among the countries of this region so to make the Court more universal.
FIDH and SAF, in collaboration with the International Coalition for the ICC (CICC), initiated a campaign for the ICC in Yemen, illustrated by the organisation, under the high patronage of the Yemeni Ministry of Human Rights, of a roundtable on the ICC for civil society representatives on 7-8 January 2004, reinforcing the Yemeni Coalition for the ICC created in October 2003. After more than one year of regular campaigning, FIDH organised with SAF and the CICC a follow-up mission to the roundtable in August 2005, during which we had the honour to discuss more deeply the issue of ICC ratification with the President of the Yemeni Republic, representatives from the judiciary, as well as with the Deputy Speaker of the Yemeni Parliament, several Parliamentarians and the President of the Shura Council [1].
Sidiki Kaba
President of FIDH
Amal Basha
President of SAF