Lobby Rome Statute signatories to drag Israel to ICC, Anwar told

 

P Waytha Moorthy said it was unfortunate that most Islamic countries were not signatories of the Rome Statute. (Bernama pic)

PETALING JAYA: Malaysian Advancement Party president P Waytha Moorthy has called on the prime minister and foreign minister to approach and lobby countries that have ratified the Rome Statute to initiate international action against Israel at the International Criminal Court (ICC).

Labelling Israel’s continued bombardment of Gaza, which includes targeting civilians and refugee camps, a war crime and a crime against humanity, Waytha said the reckless bombings and killing of civilians “should come to an immediate end”.

“These actions are a clear violation that requires arrest warrants to be immediately issued against the Israeli prime minister, his defence minister and army generals for war crimes and crimes against humanity by the ICC,” he said in a statement.

The former unity minister said that international laws were clear on the right of a nation to self-defence, and Israel had “breached international standards”.

Waytha said it was unfortunate that most Islamic countries were not signatories of the Rome Statute.

He also said signatories to the statute would be able to drag war criminals to the ICC and Malaysia lost a great opportunity when it withdrew its commitment towards the Rome Statute in 2019.

“Had we remained steadfast, Malaysia could have played a vital and lead role in referring Israel to the ICC.”

A little over 9,000 Palestinians have been killed in the war which was declared by Tel Aviv after Hamas fighters carried out deadly attacks on Israel on Oct 7. - FMT