KUWAIT, March 1, (KUNA): The National Committee for Inter-national Humanitarian Law is seeking to pass a draft national law on crimes that fall within the jurisdiction of the Inter-national Criminal Court (ICC), and to define crimes of aggression and the Kuwaiti stance, said Committee Chairman Dr. Mohammad Al-Ansari.
Speaking to KUNA on Monday, he said that this came in preparation for presenting Kuwait’s view on these matters at the Review Conference of the Rome Statute, to be hosted at the Ugandan capital, Kampala, later this year.
He noted that the main goal of the national committee, established in 2006, was to raise awareness about the International Humanitarian Law, adding that its members included representatives of government bodies relevant to implementing this law, namely the Ministries of Foreign Affairs, Defense, Interior, and Information, alongside Kuwait University and Kuwait Red Cross Society.
Asked about the tasks of the national committee, Al-Ansari said that it reviewed national legislations related to International Humanitarian Law and relevant judicial rulings, given Kuwait’s obligations to the Geneva Conventions of 1949 and the two additional protocols issued in 1977.

He added that the national committee was also working to organize plans and training programs to raise awareness about the International Humanitarian Law, in coordination with related authorities, as well as presenting recommendations to national bodies on related matters.
Moreover, he said that the committee worked to boost cooperation and the exchange of expertise between ministries and government authorities working in this field, both at the national and international levels.
Asked why Kuwait had not signed the Rome Statute of the ICC, he said that this matter was of great interest to the national committee and that it had discussed it in depth.
The committee is now preparing a memo on the need to place alternative solutions should Kuwait not sign the Rome Statute, one of which would be issuing a national draft law that fills in this gap, he explained.

Al-Ansari went on to say that the committee was currently preparing a draft national law on crimes that fell within the jurisdiction of the ICC, in line with the model Arab draft law on this same matter.
On the committee’s achievements, he said that these included immediate declaration of stances regarding the issuance of a warrant against Sudanese President Omar Al-Bashir over war crimes in Darfur, as well as on Israel’s aggression on Gaza in the beginning of 2009.
He moreover said that the committee had been preparing to hold an international forum entitled ‘The ICC: Reality, Aspirations and Challenges’, that was to be attended by leading international personalities including the ICC general prosecutor and head of the team tasked with working on aggression cases. However, political circumstances prevented the forum from taking place.
Members of the national committee often take part in international seminars and conferences on the International Humanitarian Law, he noted.
On the committee’s relationship with other bodies around the world that worked in the field of International Humanitarian Law, he explained that the nature of the matter required a consolidation of efforts at the international level, which was why there was year-round cooperation and coordination with similar committees in the Arab world, as well as with Red Crescent Societies in the Gulf.