EU Urged to Support Indonesia Ratify ICC

CICC Regional Meeting with EU’s Governments
Submission by Indonesian Civil Society Coalition for ICC

Background

The new development towards the ratification of the Rome Statute in Indonesia is very significant. Indonesian government has expressed their commitment to become a party by this year as stated in the Presidential Decree No. 40/2004 on National Action Plan on Human Rights 2004-2008. The Indonesian Civil Society Coalition for the International Criminal Court is promoting the statute to civil society and is also partnering up with the government, as part of their work in encouraging the government to ratify the Rome Statute in compliance with the plan.

Over the past year, the Indonesian Coalition has held several activities such as workshops in 5 regions in Indonesia, radio talk shows, and petitions circulation to accelerate the ratification process, media campaign, as well as diplomatic briefings. The Coalition has also developed a lobby paper, an academic paper and has drafted an ICC Ratification Bill as well.

The Department of Law and Human Rights as one of the focal points of the ratification of the Rome Statute has already finished their preliminary research concerning the readiness of all government institutions and the impacts of ratification on domestic legal system and instruments. To this point, it is expected that Directorate General of Human Rights and Directorate General for Regulations in the same department to finish their academic paper concerning the ratification and the draft bill on ratification in a very near future.

The Indonesian Parliament’s position is in support of the Rome Statute as well as in support of the Civil Society Coalition’s efforts. The Parliament has even guaranteed that they will provide a full support for the ratification by passing the bill without much delay. However, in the meantime they have to wait for the government to submit their ratification bill to the Parliament before they can act accordingly.

One should note that Indonesia is facing a General Election in April 2009 and a Presidential Election in September 2009. Therefore the government only has a limited time to act and effectively transmit the Rome Statute ratification bill to the Parliament for a consideration. This time frame is extremely important and hence the EU should continue and intensify its efforts to encourage both the Parliament and the government to stay on track in order to meet this deadline.

Recommendations

Considering the development toward the ratification of the Rome Statute and taking into account the recent political situation in Indonesia, Civil Society Coalition for the International Criminal Court herewith requests the European Union and its respective Countries Representatives to:
(1) Urge the Indonesian government to speed up the process of ratification of the Rome Statute, in order to ensure that Indonesia ratifies it before or by March 2009.
(2) Support the Indonesian Parliament members in their efforts to widely promote the Rome Statute among politicians, and in their efforts in strengthening the capacity and knowledge of parliamentarians on the Rome Statute and the International Criminal Courts.
(3) Support the Indonesian civil society activities in promoting and advocating the ratification of the Rome Statute, and our cooperation with the Indonesian government in the process.


The Hague, 17 November 2008

Indonesian Civil Society Coalitions for the International Criminal Court