ICC: Yemen Ratifies ICC

March 30, 2007 – After years of targeted advocacy by civil society groups inside and outside of the country, the Parliament of Yemen ratified the Rome Statute of the ICC, paving the way for this Arab country to be the newest member of the Court.

Amal Basha, Middle East and North Africa Coordinator for the Coalition for the ICC (CICC), praised the ratification and said, “ratification of the ICC Statute is a victory for Yemen, and it wouldn’t have been achieved without the efforts of the brave MPs [members of parliament], civil society organizations, politicians, and journalists,” in an interview with the Yemen Observer. She added that “above all, the support of the political leadership and the government was behind the success of the two-year efforts we have been exerting.”

Yemen signed the Rome Statute on Dec. 28th, 2000, and after the treaty’s referral to Parliament in 2004, the process of ratification encountered a variety of challenges and difficulties that make last Friday’s decision a true success. The ratification makes Yemen the 105th member state of the ICC, and the fourth Arab country to join the Court. The other three Arab countries include Djibouti, Comoros, and Jordan.

Yemen is located in the Arabian Peninsula, and borders Saudi Arabia and Oman.