RI defers signing ICC Statute

JAKARTA: Indonesia will not ratify the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC) until after the country has reformed the current judicial system, a senior official said.

Eddy Setiabudi, an official at the directorate of security and regional affairs of the Ministry of Home Affairs, said that ICC was only an alternative after the existing judicial system was no longer independent or effective.

"We will ratify it after countries that have ratified it implement the Rome Statute. Besides, big countries like the U.S., Japan, China, Russia, and India have not ratified the Statute," he said in a discussion.

ICC, which came into effect on July 1, 2002, has international jurisdiction over gross violations of human rights such as genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and crimes of aggression.

Some women activists said in the discussion that the ratification of the Statute could break the culture of impunity that often allowed violations to go unpunished. --JP