The National Coalition for the International Criminal Court (NCICC), the joint forum 106 human rights groups in Nepal, has called on the government to accede to the Rome Statute, the founding treaty of the International Criminal Court (ICC).

Issuing a press statement Wednesday on the completion of one year of unanimous resolution of then House of Representative directing the government to accede to the Rome Statute, the NCICC also called on the legislature parliament and eight-party alliance to take initiative to pressure the government to ratify the Rome Statute, which, according to the National Coalition, would be crucial in ending the culture of impunity in Nepal.

The National Coalition said the involvement of the ICC is necessary to effectively implement the commitments made by the interim parliament, political parties and the interim government to ending impunity and establishing democratic norms and values based on the principles of rule of law.

A government taskforce formed to study the Rome Statute had submitted its report to then Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister KP Oli last October, but the interim cabinet has not yet taken up the issue.

Human rights groups had even staged protest programmes to pressure the government to accede to Rome Statute.

105 countries have already joined the ICC, which is the first permanent international court capable of trying individuals accused of crimes against humanity, war crimes and genocide.

Currently, only seven Asian countries-Afghanistan, Cambodia, Mongolia, Republic of Korea, Japan, Timor-Leste, and Tajikistan- are state parties to the ICC. In contrast, the majority of states in Africa, Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean have joined the Court.