Malaysia would send a "strong signal" to the international community if it were to deposit the instrument of accession and confirm the 2011 cabinet decision to join the Rome Statute.

The Rome Statute is a treaty drawn up at a diplomatic conference in 1998 which inaugurated the International Criminal Court (ICC) that came into force four years later.

Tourism and Culture Minister Mohamed Nazri Abdul Aziz, who pushed for Malaysia's accession to the Rome Statute over the reservations of then-attorney-general Gani Patail, said accession now would show that all countries worldwide are united in their efforts "against impunity for mass-atrocity crimes".

Mohamed Nazri, who is also the Parliamentarians for Global Action (PGA) Malaysian Chapter chairperson, said this in conjunction with the courtesy call by the International Criminal Court (ICC) President Justice Silvia Fernandez de Gurmendi who visited Parliament last Thursday.

"How can there be peace if authors of mass-atrocities can commit the most serious crimes with impunity and without restraint?” said Nazri in welcoming remarks on the occasion.

"The ICC exercises jurisdiction over territories or nationals of states that accept to be bound by the Rome Statute. This did not happen with Syria and Iraq and the mass-atrocities of ISIS and other actors are occurring in total impunity-zone," he declared .

"Similarly, Myanmar did not ratify the Roman Statute, and the Rohingya population is being targeted by widespread or systematic attacks that might be qualified as crimes against humanity but the ICC cannot exercise its jurisdiction," asserted the minister.

Remember MH17

Besides Mohamed Nazri, the other speaker on the occasion of a roundtable conference held in conjunction with the ICC president's visit were Ipoh Barat MP and secretary of the PGA Malaysian Chapter, M Kulasegaran.

Kulasegaran said the PGA were influential in getting 77 out of the 124 states that have acceded to the Rome Statute.

The PGA is an international NGO that enlists MPs from all over the world to press governments to join supra-national entities like the ICC to bring perpetrators of atrocities to account.

"If Malaysia had been a member of the ICC, there would have been international justice consequences for the perpetrators of the downing of Flight MH17," he said.

In response to Mohamed Nazri's speech and Kulasegaran's remarks, Fernandez said she regretted that membership of Asian nations in ICC was much lower than other regions.

"We need to strengthen the global justice system in order to ensure accountability and contribute to preventing the most serious international crimes, and provide remedy to victims for the harm suffered," said Fernandez.

The ICC president later met de facto Minister of Law Azalina Othman Said who expressed support for the ICC and pledged to look into the existing obstacles towards Malaysia's accession, such as the lack of national implementation of the Rome Statute and non-compliance of some principles of the Rome Statute with the constitution of Malaysia.