Kuala Lumpur, 30 July 2015—Prof. Harkristuti Harkrisnowo, HRRC Acting Executive Director, was invited to the “PGA Parliamentary South-East Asia Sub-Regional Seminar on the International Rule of Law and the Protection of Civilians” in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on 29-30 July 2015. The event was hosted by Hon. YB Datuk Ronald Kiandee, the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives of the Parliament of Malaysia. In this prestigious event, Prof. Harkristuti gave a presentation on “The ICC and Indonesia: from the Regional Respective.”
The seminar was attended by parliamentarians—PGA members from Malaysia, Indonesia and Maldives—as well as NHRIs, academia and representatives from civil society organizations.
In her presentation, Prof. Harkristuti mentioned the relevance of the Rome Statute with the purposes and principles of the ASEAN, in particular, those stated in the Preamble, Article 1 and Article 2 of ASEAN Charter. Such alignment could be seen as an additional reason for ASEAN countries to ratify the Rome Statute.
To date, only two ASEAN Member States, i.e. Cambodia and the Philippines, have ratified the Rome Statute. Asia at large is still the least represented region in the ICC membership. Indonesia promised to ratify the Statute as early as in 2004, but this has not happened until now.
Measures can be done at the national and regional levels. At the national level, collaborative efforts between the parliament, relevant ministries, NHRIs, and academia could be improved to maintain political momentum in favor of this issue. At the regional level, possible measures could include facilitating diplomatic efforts in accordance with the vision of the ASEAN Political-Security Blueprint to create a cohesive, peaceful, stable and resilient region with shared responsibility for comprehensive security.
The seminar also produced a draft Action Plan to Promote the Universality of the Rome Statute System of the ICC in the Asia-Pacific.
