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Human rights
Japan to join International Criminal Court treaty
2001-12-06, Issue 45
http://pambazuka.org/en/category/rights/4576
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The Japanese government plans to join a 1998 treaty that eyes establishment of an
International Criminal Court to try under international law individuals who
have committed war crimes and mass murder, government sources have said.
Copyright 2001 Gale Group, Inc.
IAC (SM) Newsletter Database (TM)
Copyright 2001 Kyodo News International, Inc.
Japan Policy & Politics
October 22, 2001
SECTION: Pg. NA
IAC-ACC-NO: 80339154
LENGTH: 319 words
HEADLINE: Japan to join Int'l Criminal Court treaty.
AUTHOR-ABSTRACT:
THIS IS THE FULL TEXT: COPYRIGHT 2001 Kyodo News International, Inc.
BODY:
TOKYO, Oct. 17 Kyodo
The government plans to join a 1998 treaty that eyes establishment of an
International Criminal Court to try under international law individuals who
have committed war crimes and mass murder, government sources said
Wednesday.
The government has begun preparations to ratify the treaty and has moved
to prepare necessary domestic legislation, the sources said. Work on
drafting legislation is ''showing a certain level of progress,'' one of the
sources said.
The ruling coalition parties decided in the wake of the Sept. 11 terrorist
attacks in the United States to aim at coordinating the legislation at the
regular Diet session next year.
The International Criminal Court treaty was approved in Rome by 120
nations in July 1998 after voices were raised to punish perpetrators of
atrocities in regional conflicts in former Yugoslavia and other areas.
As of Oct. 12, 43 countries had ratified the treaty while 139 had signed
it. The treaty would come into force with ratification by 60 countries.
Japan approved adoption of the treaty, but had postponed signing it due to
opposition to the proposed court from the U.S., which fears its soldiers
could be prosecuted.
Coordination of necessary domestic legislation, meanwhile, had been
deadlocked.
However, following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, Britain ratified the
treaty on Oct. 4 and international support for setting up the court has
been gradually increasing.
A Japanese Foreign Ministry official said establishment of the court is
not related to the terrorist attacks as perpetrators of such attacks would
be tried in the country where they occur.
However, with Britain seeking trial of perpetrators of terrorist attacks
at the International Criminal Court, the dominant opinion in the ruling
coalition is that Japan should also make efforts to have the criminal court
used to try such cases.
IAC-CREATE-DATE: November 27, 2001
LOAD-DATE: November 28, 2001
Document 14 of 14
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