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Indonesian Government officials and parliamentarians reached this decision following a round-table discussion held by Parliamentarians for Global Action (PGA) which is the organisation that led the global campaign for the universality and effectiveness of the International Criminal Court (ICC) since 1989.

Indonesia’s Foreign Minister Dr. Wasan Wirayudha declared that Indonesia will accede to the Rome Statute, which is the treaty that underpins the operation of the ICC. This move supports Indonesia’s recently adopted National Human Rights Plan 2004-08.

Assistant speaker, Ross Robertson MP, as President of the International Council of PGA, has been a leader in the establishment of the Court. He stresses the importance of Indonesia’s participation in the ICC and considers it an exciting milestone in local and international foreign affairs.

Ross Robertson said “Indonesia is the world’s third largest democracy and largest Muslim-populated country so their decision to become party to the ICC is a hugely important one.”

New Zealand’s Ross Robertson considers that Indonesia will gain international credibility by joining the ICC.

New Zealand is internationally recognised as being one of the first countries that signed, ratified and legislated to recognise and incorporate the Statute into national law.

The International Criminal Court is the first permanent international criminal jurisdiction with the power to investigate and adjudicate the most serious crimes under international law, such as genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes.

The ICC was established with the aim of providing international justice facing unresolved atrocities in countries such as Sudan (Darfur) and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Trying perpetrators of horrendous crimes is a key objective of the ICC, but it also aims to act as a deterrent in the event of future wars and terrorism.

National governments, rulers and high-ranking officials sometimes commit crimes against their own citizens. By signing on to the ICC and its associated Statute, nations are provided with an additional layer of justice and security to human safety, at an international level.

Ross Robertson said that as a member of the PGA “it is our duty as elected parliamentarians to protect civilians from atrocities, violence and armed conflict, and law abiding nations have all to gain and nothing to lose in joining the new system of international criminal justice created by the ICC.”

The ICC was established in The Hague in the Netherlands, during July 2002. At present, 139 countries have signed the Rome Statue and another 104 have become party to it.

The ICC has been coined the ‘court of last resort’ as it can only intervene when nation states are unable, or unwilling, to investigate and prosecute themselves.

The Statute is not retroactive so Indonesia will only be able to bring forth cases that occur after completion of the accession process in 2008. This will not help resolve current human rights cases in Indonesia, such as the 1984 Tanjung Prik murders or the 1990s Timor Leste massacres.

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