Mr. Speaker, the July 1998 adoption of the treaty for the establishment of an international criminal court is the most dramatic development in international human rights and international criminal law in the second half of the 20th century.
On June 27, 2000, parliament enacted comprehensive, historic, watershed legislation to implement the ICC statute for Canada and to provide the legislative foundation to bring war criminals to justice. As of today 140 countries have signed the treaty and 28 countries including Canada have ratified it.
The ICC treaty will end a culture of impunity, deter national crimes, protect international peace and security, and serve as an international justice model.
In a word, the ICC treaty is a wake-up call and a warning to tyrants everywhere. There will be no safe havens, no base or sanctuary for the enemies of humankind. As well, our domestic legislation will place Canada at the forefront of the international justice movement and give juridical validation to the anguished plea of victims and survivors from the second world war to the killing fields of today of “never again”.