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