ICC urges countries to join the Rome Statute

The International Criminal Court (ICC) Tuesday called on countries which are still not members of the court to sign the Rome Statute which is the founding charter of the ICC. "While almost two-thirds of the worlds sovereign nations are ICC States Parties, a number of countries, comprising the majority of the worlds population, still remain outside the Rome Statute system," said ICC President Sang-Hyun Song in a statement to mark Human Rights Day. Last week, Song said he visited Indonesia and Malaysia, where he met senior politicians and officials in order to facilitate these countries decisions on accession to the Rome Statute. "I equally wish to see every other State not yet party to the Rome Statute to join," he said. "Our commitment to the Rome Statute system must become global. Universal human rights cannot be fully protected and promoted without a universal International Criminal Court," he stressed. He clarified that ICC is not a human rights court in the strict sense. "It looks at the responsibility of individuals, not States. But the ICC is every bit a court in the service of human rights," he added