KATHMANDU: The Coalition for the International Criminal Court (CICC)-a global network of more than 2,500 civil society organisations-has urged the Government of Nepal to accede to the Rome Statute without further delay.

Rome Statute is the founding treaty of the International Criminal Court, without further delay. Nepal is the focus of the Coalition’s Universal Ratification Campaign (URC) for April 2010.

As part of the campaign, the New York-based Coalition for the International Criminal Court calls upon different countries every month to join the Court.

In a letter dated April 1 to Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal and faxed to the media today, the CICC has encouraged Nepal to increase its efforts to accede to the Rome Statute. Global support for the Rome Statute is crucial in building, strengthening and ensuring the success of the first permanent

and independent court capable of investigating

and bringing to justice

individuals who commit war crimes, crimes

against humanity, genocide, and, once defined at the Review Conference, the crime of aggression.

“Nepal will further consolidate democratic principles and the rule of law by acceding to the Rome Statute” said William Pace, Convener for the Coalition for the International Criminal Court in a press release issued in New York.

“The accession to the Rome Statute will send a clear message to the international community that Nepal’s committed to international justice.”

As of April 1, 2010, 111 states have ratified or acceded to the treaty, and 139 are signatories.

The 111th state party

is Bangladesh, the first South Asian country to embrace the treaty.

While Bangladesh’s

ratification is certainly

instrumental in ensuring a larger representation of the Asian region at the International Criminal Court, Asian countries are still under-represented in the Rome Statute and in the Court as well.

The Coalition encourages Nepal to become

a part of the system

created by the International Criminal Court.

“Greater support for the International Criminal Court in the Asian region is needed in order to strengthen the region’s commitment to fight against impunity,” said INSEC chairman Subodh Pyakurel on behalf of the Nepalese National Coalition for the International Criminal Court.

“We applaud the move of the Government of Bangladesh and we urge the Government of

Nepal to accede to the Statute without further delay,” he added.