GLOBAL COURT'S POOR ASIAN MEMBERSHIP - JUDGE

By P. Vijian

NEW DELHI, March 19 (Bernama) -- Despite being set up seven years ago, many
Asian countries have yet to be part of the Hague-based International Criminal
Court (ICC).

The permanent court set up to prosecute perpetrators of serious crimes
against humanity, currently has 108 member states, largely dominated by
European, Latin America and Africa.

However, Asian and West Asian representation remains small, says ICC judge
Fumiko Saiga of Japan.

In an interview with Bernama here, she acknowledged the imbalance and said
there was a need to address the lack of Asian participation in the international
court.

"Africa has 30 member states in ICC but unfortunately, Asia has only 14...it
is very few. Asia is the region of a variety of culture, social problem and
legal system. It is very important to have Asian countries among us.

"Among Asean, only Cambodia is a member. Earlier, they said there was
pressure from some countries not to join. I hope important countries like
China, India, other Asian and Arab countries will join ICC.

"If any country comes with specific problems of acceding to the convention
of the Rome Statute, we are ready to assist," said Saiga, who was re-elected as
ICC judge for the second term in January.

She was in Delhi to attend a one-day seminar, 'International Criminal
Court: Emerging Issues and Future Challenges', organised by the Asian-African
Legal Consultative Organisation, in collaboration with the Japanese Government.

The ICC was established in 2002, governed by the 1998 Rome Statute, as a
permanent court to handle cases relating to genocide, crimes against humanity
and war crimes.

The court came into existence as complementary to the national judicial
system and tries cases where domestic courts cannot or would not prosecute the
offenders.

Major countries, China, India, Russia and the United States (US) have been
critical of the court and refused to become member states.

The US acceded to the Rome Statue in 2000 but unsigned in 2002.

In January, ICC conducted its first trial on Congolese militia leader
Thomas Lubanga, who was accused of recruting child soldiers in the country's
civil war.

In March, ICC issued an arrest warant against Sudanese president Omar Hassan
Ahmad Al Bashri for atrocities committed in Darfur -- the court's first warrant
issued against a head of state still in power.
-- BERNAMA