The House of Representatives on Tuesday unanimously adopted a resolution directing the government to ratify the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC), which would make it harder for the perpetrators of specific crimes to evade punishment. The court’s jurisdiction is limited to ‘the most serious crimes of concern to the international community as a whole’. Under this category fall the crime of genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, and crime of aggression. On July 17, 1998, 120 countries voted for the ICC statute in Rome, while the US voted against it. It came into force on July 1, 2002. Despite US cajoling and arm-twisting, enough countries ratified the statute to bring the ICC into existence. (So far 139 countries have signed it, and 100 have ratified it). The idea behind the ICC, first promoted mainly by European countries, is that the most serious crimes of international concern must not go unpunished. Some of those involved in such crimes, including several leaders in the former Yugoslavia, have come under the ICC jurisdiction.

The ratification of the Rome Statute would greatly help discourage powerful people from committing the above-mentioned crimes in the future as ratification does not have retrospective effect. Such criminals would come under ICC jurisdiction even if they managed to flee the domestic justice system. It would not grant immunity even to those in power committing such crimes. Therefore, ratification would mark a solid step towards ending the culture of impunity prevalent in Nepal. However, the nationals of non-signatory countries do not come under ICC jurisdiction, unless referred to it by the UN Security Council. Besides, the ICC has no right to prosecute nationals of any country if they are tried in their own courts.

However, Nepal signed a non-extradition treaty with the US on January 1, 2003, which runs up against multilateralism, such as the ICC. Under the treaty, they will not surrender each other’s nationals to any international tribunal or a third country. The US, opposed to the ICC from the start, has signed this non-extradition treaty with a number of countries in order to weaken the ICC, in the process tying its military aid, under a 2002 American law, to the signing of this treaty. Significantly, Nepal received the first delivery of US military aid, promised months before, soon after signing the treaty. The US, in its negotiations with the ICC, has sought immunity for American citizens from the purview of the ICC in return for its support for the ICC. At least, some of the American soldiers engaged in military operations abroad might attract ICC provisions if the US ratified the statute. Whether Nepal’s non-extradition treaty with the US would sit well with the intended ratification of the Rome Statute is worth pondering. Anyway, becoming a member of the ICC would be a reliable shield against wholesale violations of the citizens’ human rights.