MH17 CASE BOOST WITH ROME STATUTE
“THE wrongs which we seek to condemn and punish have been so calculated, so malignant and so devastating that civilisation cannot tolerate their being ignored, because it cannot survive their being repeated.” — Opening statement of Supreme Court justice Robert H. Jackson, the United States prosecutor to the Nuremberg trials in November 1945.
As Malaysians, we count ourselves fortunate to live in a peaceful country, where conflicts and violence are not part of our lives.
For many, however, the opposite is sadly true. Across the world, civilians and aid workers targeted by armed groups; hospitals, religious spaces and schools are bombarded and obliterated; supplies and aid are blocked from being delivered to civilians and the injured. These atrocities are international crimes.
In the past, people of Malaysia (then Malaya) had similarly been victims of atrocious acts, in particular, during World War 2.
The Japanese army invaded, occupied and committed atrocities against the people of Malaya and others in the region.
At the end of the war, the victors banded together to establish the International Military Tribunal for the Far East. Its aim was to hold individual criminal responsibility among the highest in the chain of command for the atrocities committed.
At the end of the trial, 28 men were convicted for the most serious charge in the tribunal’s jurisdiction: war crimes. Following this, other domestic trials in the region similarly tried and sentenced thousands of Japan-ese soldiers.
Around the same time, a related military tribunal took place in Germany — the Nuremberg trials — which tried high-ranking Nazi military officers and party officials for their role in the atrocities committed during World War 2.
Subsequently, ad hoc international criminal tribunals were established to prosecute crimes of such nature, arising from specific situations.
They include the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, the Special Court for Sierra Leone and the hybrid Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia.
In 1998, 120 countries voted for the adoption of the Rome Statute, creating a permanent International Criminal Court.
Today, ICC has jurisdiction over individuals who commit the most serious crimes of concern to the international community — war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide and crime of aggression.
It does not replace the role of domestic courts, but complements it. The court tries individuals only when countries concerned are unable or unwilling to do so. In other words, it is a court of last resort.
Every year, on July 17, the world c ommemorates I nt e rn at io na l Criminal Justice Day, the day the Rome Statute entered into force.
Malaysia participated in the negotiations for the Rome Statute, but had yet to accede to it. Let us consider the country’s position in relation to it.
History has shown that we are not spared from being victims of international crimes. A reminder is the downing of Malaysian Airlines Flight MH17 in 2014, where many among us were robbed of our friends and family.
Malaysia proposed that an International Criminal Tribunal be established to prosecute perpetrators of war crimes in their role in the MH17 incident.
The proposal was brought before the United Nations Security Council, but failed to materialise as Russia, a permanent member of the council, exercised its veto.
The time is ripe for us, having been victims and witnesses to international crimes and a member of the international community, to take a step against international crimes and towards ending impunity.
A first step should be the accession to the Rome Statute. There are many benefits to this.
For example, Malaysia would benefit from the cooperation mechanism with ICC provided by the statute.
Further, Malaysia would contribute to creating a world where wanted individuals have no place to hide as it could arrest them for ICC.
Importantly, acceding to the statute would serve as a powerful foreign policy statement, lending weight to Malaysia’s efforts to seek justice for victims of MH17.