Amnesty International: Philippines should join the International Criminal Court

[pampango]

http://www.amnesty.org/en/news-and-updates/philippines-senate-should-vote-join-international-criminal-court-2011-08-17

Amnesty International today called on Philippine Senators to vote in favour of ratification of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC), helping the fight against impunity for genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes worldwide.

If the bill is approved by the Senate on 22 August, the Philippines will join almost two-thirds of countries in the world which have ratified the Rome Statute.

The ICC was established in 2002 to investigate and prosecute genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes, when the national authorities are unable or unwilling to do so.

States that ratify the Rome Statute commit to investigating and prosecuting these crimes before their national courts. They agree that, if they are unable or unwilling to do so, the ICC may step in.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/States_Parties_to_the_Rome_Statute_of_the_International_Criminal_Court#United_States

As of August 2011, 115 states are members of the court, including all of South America, nearly all of Europe and roughly half the countries in Africa.

Of the 139 states that had signed the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, 34 have not ratified the treaty. - including the US - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/States_Parties_to_the_Rome_Statute_of_the_International_Criminal_Court#Signatories

Although the US originally voted against the adoption of the Rome Statute, President Bill Clinton unexpectedly reversed his position on 31 December 2000 and signed the treaty... On 6 May 2002, the Bush administration announced it was nullifying the United States' signature of the treaty. The country's main objections are interference with their national sovereignty and a fear of politically motivated prosecutions.

Three of these states—Israel, Sudan and the United States—have "unsigned" the Rome Statute, indicating that they no longer intend to become states parties and, as such, they have no legal obligations arising from their former representatives' signature of the statute. 44 United Nations member states have neither signed nor ratified or acceded to the Rome Statute; some of them, including China and India, are critical of the court.