Malaysia announced on Tuesday that it has signed the Rome Statute and is now a member of the International Criminal Court.
The move represents a boost for the underrepresented Asian region at the ICC. Currently, only seven Asian states are members of the Court - Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Japan, Republic of Korea, Mongolia, and Timor-Leste.
The Government of Malaysia said in a statement that it had "reached the historic, unanimous decision to accede to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC), the first permanent institution mandated to put an end to impunity for genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and the crime of aggression."
Malaysia also took the opportunity to "call upon all countries that have not already taken this step, in particular its neighbouring countries in the Asian region who have not yet done so, to give serious consideration to becoming a State Party to the Rome Statute without delay."
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The headline of this report is apparently incorrect. Malaysia has made the DECISION to join the ICC, but this does not yet mean it is a member of the ICC already. The procedure just started.
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