PUTRAJAYA: On the United Nations (UN) website, Malaysia is still listed as a member nation of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC), and for the government, this is baffling.
The Foreign Ministry has expressed disappointment that Malaysia has not been removed from the list of ICC nations despite having announced that it was not ratifying the Rome Statute.
“The UN resident coordinator in Malaysia will be asked to explain the process of withdrawal and the country’s status,” the ministry said in a statement.
The government had, on April 29, sent a letter to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to inform him of Malaysia’s intention to withdraw from the treaty.
Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad had announced on April 5 that the country would not be ratifying the statute.
He claimed that the government had been forced to withdraw in light of “confusion created by those with political interests”.
Wisma Putra then said that Malaysia would be removed from the list after the UN had completed the necessary procedure.
The ICC is the first permanent, treaty-based international criminal court.
Its objective is to end impunity for perpetrators of the most serious crimes – genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity and crimes of aggression.
Only individuals and not the country are to be taken to task.
