International Criminal Court, Commonwealth Secretariat sign MoU

[TamilNet, Friday, 15 July 2011, 20:08 GMT]
Commonwealth Secretary General Kamalesh Sharma, on Wednesday signed an MoU with the International Criminal Court, to strengthen and develop co-operation between the two organizations to jointly support States implementing International Criminal Law. Legal circles in Colombo opined that Sri Lanka not being a signatory to the Rome Statute, the country of Eezham Tamils occupied by Sri Lanka, would not be a beneficiary of this MoU. However, they said that it is a good sign to see the Commonwealth Secretary General Sharma, who once stated that he had no mandate to question Sri Lanka on its human rights violations perpetrated on Tamil people, has started to move in the right direction with the signing of this MoU.

Sri Lanka along with 53 other former British Colonies are members of the Commonwealth of Nations, which was once known as British Commonwealth. In the past, some member countries have been expelled from Commonwealth for undemocratic practices.

The signing of the MoU will no doubt assist the enhancement of the national elements of Rule of Law of the respective States in capacity building in the fields of International Humanitarian Law and International Criminal Law, according to Judge Song of the ICC.

The ICC works towards achieving justice for victims and to prevent impunity for genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and other forms of violent aggressions.