THE previous Barisan Nasional cabinet had no objections to the Rome Statute and was willing to accede to it in 2011, said G25 member Noor Farida Ariffin today.

Commenting on the opposition to the treaty established the International Criminal Court, Farida said that Abdul Gani Patail, the attorney-general at the time, had objected, but all the other agencies agreed.

“I was director-general of the research treaties and international law department of Wisma Putra then.

“We initiated the government’s accession to the Rome Statute.

“We prepared the cabinet paper and sent it to all the relevant government agencies, including the A-G’s Chambers.

“The cabinet overruled the Attorney-General’s Chambers’ objection and decided to accede to the statute at the end of March 2011.”

Farida said her department prepared the instrument of accession to be deposited with the UN secretary-general, as mandated by the Rome Statute, but “for reasons best known to himself”, former foreign minister Anifah Aman did not want to sign it.

She was speaking to reporters after a public forum at Universiti Malaya today on the Rome Statute.

She said the government was too hasty when it announced its withdrawal from the Rome Statute, and that it should now form a committee of experts and a communication strategy to promote the treaty.

“The people will then know there is nothing to fear, that there is no ‘agenda of the superpowers’. If there was one, the United States would be a state party, but it isn’t. Russia and China aren’t either.

“This is because of all the insurgencies in their countries, and they are afraid that if they stamp them out, they can be brought before the International Criminal Court and prosecuted.

“So, they have a reason for not ratifying the statute. Bill Clinton signed it, but George Bush then unsigned it.”

Farida said G25 was going to send a memorandum, co-signed by several groups, with all several recommendations, by next week.

“We’ve also teamed up with Patriot and Ikram, which have chapters all over the country and especially in the rural areas. Ikram is a grassroots organisation.

“We’ve already acceded, so we are urging the government not to withdraw.”

She said before the government could make any decision, it had to educate the people.

“We don’t want a repeat of ICERD, where the opposition parties provoked demonstrations and so on.

“We particularly need to explain to the Malays, who are feeling so insecure, that it does not adversely affect them or the royalty.

“How can you say that it is against Islam? Does Islam support genocide? You’re talking about genocide. And Muslims are also the victims of genocide.”

She said G25 could not avoid being seen as an elitist group by the rural people, as its members have held very senior government positions.

“But this is why we are working with grassroots organisations. Ikram holds talks and dialogue sessions with the kampung people.” – April 27, 2019.