By Janet Sesay
The Centre for Accountability and Rule of Law has welcomed the Government of Sierra Leone’s renewed commitment to domesticate the International Criminal Court and further pledging to enact domesticating legislation that would make the Rome Statute and the ICC foundation documents part of Sierra Leone’s legal code.
Executive Director of CARL,Ibrahim Tommy, made this disclosure yesterday at a press conference in Freetown.
He told newsmen that,this year, the world is commemorating the 20th anniversary of the creation of the Rome Statue which, he noted,is a foundation document for the International Criminal Court which was set up pursuant to the Rome Statue.
The CARL Director disclosed that Sierra Leone ratified the Statute in 2000 but, regrettably,the country has still not been able to implement the legislation.
The Rome Statue proscribes crimes of genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity and crimes of aggression.
It will be recalled that Sierra Leone, being one of the signatories of the Rome Statute, has not domesticated it through an Act of Parliament, thus limiting its implementation through the domestic courts.
Tommy noted that Sierra Leone is not able to enforce the provisions of the Rome Statue at the domestic level.
Domesticating it, he went on, will ensure that it becomes part of the legal code and laws of the country.
He said that even though Sierra Leone ratified the Rome Statute nearly 18years ago, efforts by right groups to influence the Government of Sierra Leone to incorporate its provisions into our national laws have been largely unsuccessful.
The Right Groups urged the new Government of its obligations under the Rome Statue, while calling on them to scale up support to the International Criminal Court (ICC) and to take steps for the speedy enactment of an ICC Act.
“The ICC is confronted with several challenges, which is why the government must increase its direct support to the court and demonstrate commitment to the principle of complementarity under the Rome Statue,” CARL Director maintained.
The right groups further disclosed that the Chairperson of the Human Right Committee in Parliament, Honorable Hindolo Gevao, has expressed his personal commitment to the domestication of the Rome Statute,while also urging the relevant state actors to draft the bill without delay.
Alie Kabba, Minister of Foreign Affairs, has also stated that the government of Sierra Leone will continue to honor its obligation under international law.
He furthered that the Government of Sierra Leone has no intention of retreating on their international obligations as, according to him,they want the world to be a place where everyone in the world has access to justice.