Jurists Call for Cooperation Against International Crimes
Around 30 judges, lawyers and human rights advocates
from eight Southeast Asian countries recently convened
in Bangkok, Thailand, and called on ASEAN countries to
support the application of the principle of universal
jurisdiction for international crimes in the region. The
seminar participants, coming from Burma, Cambodia, Indonesia,
Laos, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand and East Timor,
also asked ASEAN countries to establish national and regional
mechanisms to ensure accountability, reduce impunity and
prevent gross human rights violations.
The seminar was entitled: “Ensuring Responsibility
for International Crime within the Principle of Universal
Jurisdiction: The Challenge for the ASEAN Criminal Justice
Cooperation.” It was held on November 27-28, 2003
and was organized by the Thai Working Group for an ASEAN
Human Rights Mechanism and the Law Society of Thailand.
Universal jurisdiction allows a state to exercise jurisdiction
over a limited category of international crimes regardless
of where the offense was committed and regardless of the
nationalities of the perpetrators and the victims. Its
primary goal is to provide for a mechanism of accountability
to individuals for international crimes like piracy, slavery,
war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide, torture,
and apartheid.
The application of universal jurisdiction, however, requires
states to enact laws and to provide for the prosecution
and punishment of international crimes. For instance,
the Rome Statute, which created the International Criminal
Court (ICC), makes the ICC complementary to national criminal
jurisdictions. Hence, participants also called on ASEAN
countries to ensure the effectiveness of the assumption
of universal jurisdiction through reforms in criminal
justice, prosecutions and the collection of evidence.
Other proposals endorsed by the seminar participants
include the following:
- For ASEAN countries to ensure a balance between national
security concerns and the guarantee of international
human rights standards;
- For ASEAN countries not to enter into bilateral immunity
agreements with the United States;
- For ASEAN countries and non-government organizations
to undertake studies to determine the impact of amnesties
and immunity provisions on peace and justice in the
region; and
- For the Working Group for an ASEAN Human Rights Mechanism
to monitor the impact of the Rome Statute in the region.
