(Petaling Jaya, Wednesday): I have today sent an email to President Bush of the United
States, copy to the United States
Ambassador to Malaysia, Marie T. Huhtala, urging that the United States should
stop acting like a rogue state, disrupting international peace-keeping efforts
and undermining the integrity of the international system of justice by
demanding immunity from genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity from
the jurisdiction of the International
Criminal Court.
My email to Bush called on the United States administration
to reconsider its position to seek immunity for American citizens from the
jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court and to immediately revoke its
veto in the Security Council on Sunday against the unanimous support of the
other 14 member countries to extend the U.N. peacekeeping mission in Bosnia.
It is indeed a great shame for the United States and
tragedy for humanity if the
world’s first permanent war crimes tribunal to prevent future Hitlers, Pol
Pots and Saddam Husseins should be sabotaged by the United States’
intransigence and recalcitrance in refusing to accept the universal
applicability of one of the most fundamental principles of international justice
- no immunity for crimes such as genocide, war crimes and crimes against
humanity.
It is very disappointing and a matter for dismay that for
the past three days, the Malaysian government has kept its silence on the United
States veto in the Security Council on Sunday to wreck the 1998 Rome Treaty and
the International Court of Justice, which came into existence at the Hague
on Monday.
Malaysia is set to
become the Chairman of the Non-Aligned Conference as well as Chairman of the
Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC) from next year.
The Foreign Minister, Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar should safeguard Malaysia’s reputation as the voice of the Third World to courageously speak up for truth and justice especially when other countries dare not speak their minds. He must break his silence on such an important international issue in the cause of humanity.
If the Malaysian government continues to abdicate from its national and international responsibility to speak up on this issue, DAP will seriously consider convening an an all-party roundtable conference to condemn US opposition to the International Criminal Court and veto in the Security Council to extend the UN peacekeeping mission in Bosnia as it is a threat to all UN peacekeeping forces.
(3/7/2002)