INTERNATIONAL CAMPAIGN UNDERWAY TO PRESSURE

UNCLAS PARAMARIBO 000151 SIPDIS SIPDIS DEPT FOR WHA/CAR LLUFTIG, L/PM MIKE COFFEE DEPT FOR AC JOAN CORBETT SOUTHCOM ALSO FOR POLAD E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PREL PGOV MARR EAID NS SUBJECT: INTERNATIONAL CAMPAIGN UNDERWAY TO PRESSURE SURINAME TO JOIN ICC REFS: (A) 05 PARAMARIBO 789 (B) 05 PARAMARIBO 828 (C) PARAMARIBO 096 (D) 05 PARAMARIBO 811 ¶1. (U) Summary. The debate over President Ronald Venetiaan's stated intention for Suriname to join the International Criminal Court (ICC) and sign an Article 98 agreement has again made headlines, when the Coalition for the International Criminal Court (CICC) launched a campaign to encourage Suriname to accede to the Rome Statute as soon as possible. A parliamentarian from the President's own party reemphasized her intention to actively oppose Suriname's signing an Article 98 agreement. (See refs A-C). End Summary. ¶2. (U) The CICC, which is an international network of over 2,000 non-governmental organizations advocating for "a fair, effective and independent International Criminal Court," has embarked on an aggressive campaign to persuade the Government of Suriname (GOS) to join the ICC immediately. The organization sent a letter to President Venetiaan on March 1 urging Suriname "to take a major step forward in its commitment to international justice and the fight against impunity by acceding to the Rome Statute." The network states that Suriname has shown an increased commitment to becoming party to the ICC treaty and praised Suriname for co-hosting the first CARICOM Regional Conference on the ICC in June 2005. ¶3. (U) William Pace, senior member of the CICC, was quoted in Suriname's leading newspaper 'De Ware Tijd' as saying the network hopes that the country's accession to the ICC treaty will trigger other Caribbean countries to also ratify the treaty. A 'Suriname Ratification Campaign' has been launched on the network's website, whereby the public has the opportunity to send form letters to President Venetiaan, the Minister of Foreign Affairs Lygia Kraag- Keteldijk, or Surinamese Embassies abroad. In its public statements in Suriname, the CICC has not stated a position on Suriname's possible signing of an Article 98 agreement. ¶4. (U) President Venetiaan's December 2005 announcement in the National Assembly (DNA) that Suriname intends to both accede to the Rome Statute and enter into an Article 98 agreement stirred critical reaction from both coalition and opposition members at the time. Ruth Wijdenbosch, a prominent DNA member of the President's NPS party and board member of the organization of Parliamentarians for Global Action, recently restated her intention to vote against an Article 98. She moreover declared her intention to persuade other coalition members to oppose an agreement. Coalition parliamentarian Sharmila Mangal-Mansaram has also repeatedly stated her firm opposition to an Article 98 agreement since the President's announcement. (See ref D). With a thin majority in the DNA (29 of 51 seats),the President cannot afford many such defections among members of his New Front Plus coalition. BARNES