St Lucia Joins ICC State parties
By Our Staff Writer – 23rd–29th Aug 2010
Saint Lucia has joined the growing list of nations that have ratified the 1998 Rome Statute that established the International Criminal Court [ICC]. The ICC is the world’s first permanent court tasked with trying people accused of the most serious offences such as genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity.
The Caribbean nation became the 113th State party to The Hague based ICC. The ICC welcomed Saint Lucia’s decision, calling it “…a new sign of the international community’s commitment to put an end to impunity for the perpetrators of the most serious crimes that deeply shock the conscience of humanity”.
The Statute will enter into force on 1st November for Saint Lucia whose move comes just over a week after Seychelles ratified the pact. The ICC currently has investigations open in five situations; namely, the Democratic Republic of the Congo [DRC], the war-torn Sudanese region of Darfur, northern Uganda, Central African Republic [CAR], and Kenya. Critics however say the ICC is a political instrument that was exclusively designed for Africa; a claim that the ICC vigorously denies.
