[MEDIA QUOTE] MALAYSIA: ACCESSION TO ROME STATUTE A STEP IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION

AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL MALAYSIA

5 MARCH 2019

MALAYSIA: ACCESSION TO ROME STATUTE A STEP IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION

In response to Malaysia’s accession to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, Amnesty International Malaysia’s Executive Director, Shamini Darshni Kaliemuthu said:

“We welcome the announcement that Malaysia has acceded to the Rome Statute, which helps ensure accountability for the most serious of crimes: crimes against humanity, genocide, war crimes and crimes of aggression. This is a step in the right direction and works towards the government’s pledge to make reforms in defence of human rights, in Malaysia and beyond.

“To keep working towards this pledge, Malaysia must ratify all of the remaining core international treaties, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR); the United Nations Convention against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment and Punishment (UNCAT); the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR); the International Convention on the Protection of Migrant Workers and Members of their Families (ICMW); and the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance (ICPPED).

“Likewise, the government should urgently rethink its decision not to ratify the International Convention Against All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD), having previously pledged to ratify this core treaty.

“To date, Malaysia has only ratified three core treaties, namely the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), and the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), and all with reservations. It would also be in Malaysia’s interest to ratify crucial treaties such as the Refugee Convention.”

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