PUTRAJAYA will not ratify the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC) due to “political confusion” surrounding the issue, said Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

“There seems to be a lot of confusion over the Rome Statute, so we will not accede,” he told a press conference in Putrajaya today.

“This is not because we are against it, but because of the political confusion over what it entails, caused by people with vested interests,” he added. 

He said Malaysia, which acceded to the Rome Statute on March 4 with the instrument on accession deposited with the United Nations secretary-general the same day, can withdraw before June this year.

“We are not going to ratify it because many people do not understand the issue, not because the Rome Statute is harmful to us,” Dr Mahathir added.

“This issue is being used by certain quarters to create confusion among the people. 

“They are trying to paint my face black, as if we will surrender the nation to foreign powers. There is no such thing. The Rome Statute will not depose our king.

“The Rome Statute issue is also being used as a political tool for some to mislead the people into believing that Malay rights will be taken away, and it is also an attempt to get royals involved,” Dr Mahathir said.

The prime minister also blamed a certain person for the “confusion” over the statute, saying, “We will withdraw the ratification to the Statute of Rome because of the confusion created by one particular person who wants to be free to beat up people”.

“If he beats up people again, I will send the police to arrest him, I don’t care who he is,” Dr Mahathir said, without naming anyone.

The 93-year-old leader also assured that, even if Malaysia does not sign the international treaty, the country will not commit crimes against humanity. 

“Do you think I am going to commit a massacre? Even if we don’t sign it, the world can still condemn us if we go overboard with our actions. For instance, Myanmar didn’t sign the Rome Statute and commits war crimes against the Rohingya minority and yet, the world and the United Nations condemn their barbaric actions against innocent people.

“Whether we ratify it or not, we will still be condemned if we take barbaric action against the people here. We are not going to line up all the gays against the wall and shoot them all. That would be going overboard, although we here in Malaysia do not recognise same-sex relationships,” Dr Mahathir said.

The government had on March 4 signed the Instrument of Accession to the Rome Statute of the ICC.

Foreign Minister Saifuddin Abdullah had also said that he had informed Yang di-Pertuan Agong Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri’ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah on February 15 of the cabinet’s decision to accede to the Rome Statute.

The Johor palace had, however, stood against the government’s move to accede to the Rome Statute.

Tunku Mahkota Johor Tunku Ismail Sultan Ibrahim tweeted on March 10 that the government had failed to consult the Conference of Rulers on its decision.

He added in doing so, the government had undermined the rulers’ position.

On March 23, Johor’s Sultan Ibrahim Sultan Iskandar accused Putrajaya of violating the federal constitution by signing the Rome Statute.

Sultan Ibrahim said the Rome Statute, along with the attempt to ratify the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD), had touched on the monarchy, Malay privileges and sanctity of Islam.

“Any party that touches (on) the rights and powers of a ruler or state government is breaking the law and can be considered traitors.

“The action of the federal government to ratify the ICERD and sign the Rome Statute is an action that is contradictory to the federal constitution because it touches on the power of the rulers and the special status of the Malays, as well as the sanctity of Islam in the country,” he had said.

Previously, Putrajaya had also made a U-turn on ratifying the ICERD following objections from the Malay community, as well as political parties Umno and PAS.

The Rome Statute is the treaty that established the International Criminal Court. It was adopted in Rome on July 17, 1998, and came into force on July 1, 2002.

As of March 4 this year, 124 countries are signatories to the Rome Statute.

The countries include those practising constitutional monarchy systems, such as Belgium, Cambodia, Denmark, Japan, Jordan, Lesotho, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Samoa, Spain, Sweden, and the United Kingdom. – April 5, 2019.