Mr. Speaker, the Parliamentarians for Global Action concluded its annual forum with the adoption of the “Ottawa Action Plan for the International Criminal Court”, whose centrepiece is the promotion and protection of the independence and integrity of the court from untoward challenges, including the attempt by the United States to immunize its nationals from the jurisdiction of the court, and to seek bilateral immunity agreements for that purpose.
The historic declaration, adopted unanimously by some 100 parliamentarians from 50 countries, constitutes an unprecedented international parliamentary declaration of support for the court. The declaration resolved also to launch an international parliamentary assembly for the ICC which will serve, inter alia, as an oversight body of the assembly of state parties, as well as a support system for the promotion of the universality and equitability of the ratification process, and the adoption of corresponding implementing legislation for the construction of a system of global justice for the 21st century.
The forum also expressed its support for the doctrine of the duty to protect, involving the prevention of mass atrocities, the intervention where necessary, and the obligation to rebuild. Rwanda is a case study of the failure to prevent, and the failure to intervene in a preventable genocide.