Guatemala to sign up to ICC in July

THE HAGUE, Apr 3 – Central America’s most populous country Guatemala is to become the 121st country to sign up to the International Criminal Court’s founding treaty, the court said on Tuesday.

“The Rome Statute will enter into force for Guatemala on July 1, 2012, bringing to 121 the total number of state parties,” the court in The Hague said in a statement.

Only two countries in Central America have not yet ratified the Rome Statute, namely El Salvador and Nicaragua, ICC president Sang-Hyun Song said as he welcomed Guatemala into the fold.

The ICC was created through the adoption of its founding statute at a Rome conference in July 1998, and opened its doors to the public in 2003.

To date, 120 countries have signed up, the largest group coming from Africa.

The ICC is the world’s only independent, permanent tribunal with the jurisdiction to try genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes.

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