Maldives accedes to the jurisdiction of International Criminal Court

The Maldives has acceded to the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court (ICC) after signing the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court on the 21st of this month.

In an event held at New York, during the 66th General Session of the United Nations, Maldives Foreign Minister Ahmed Naseem signed the statute on behalf of his government, thus becoming the 118th nation to endorse the ICC, which has been created as an independent and permanent tribunal to hear cases of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity.

According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Maldives is the 17th Asia Pacific nation to become subject to the jurisdiction of the ICC. The Ministry also said that the Maldives shall implement the Rome Statute starting from December 1st this year.

The Parliamentarians for Global Action (PGA), an international association, has meanwhile issued a Statement yesterday recognizing and lauding the efforts of Maldives MP Ahmed Mahloof, representing Galolhu Dhekunu Constituency in the People’s Majlis, in realizing Maldives membership of the ICC.

Mahloof has said that he started to conduct a special campaign for Maldives membership of ICC after the PGA Asia Pacific Consultation Meeting held in Kuala Lumpur during March this year. He said that after the Meeting, he came back and lobbied for the matter, by speaking to MPs, and the National Security Committee decided to accede to the Rome Statute on the 28th of April this year. The decision was approved by the People’s Majlis on the 14th of June.

The ICC is based at The Hague, the Netherlands, and has jurisdiction over cases since July 2002.