Been closely associated with the Malaysian Armed Forces over the years and counting many relatives, personal friends and acquaintances among them, I am disgusted to see that the Bar Council is willing to sell out the rights and protection of Malaysian soldiers to a supposedly impartial International Criminal Court which has no checks and balances to its jurisdiction and power.

The government is doing the right thing in refusing to sign the treaty but this seems unclear to the Bar Council members who are urging the government to accede to the treaty. It seems so easy for the council, none of whom I'm sure have served in the military, to sell out the rights of those who endure hardship in the defence of our nation.

The ICC was intended to make future perpetrators of genocides and massacres accountable but unfortunately has mutated into a law that is far too loose and makes almost every form of military action subject to prosecution under it. Moreover it overrides any court decision by the country involved in relation to the accused, irrespective of whether the processes of justice in that country were scrupulously followed or not.

This means that if a Malaysian court cleared Malaysian soldiers of any crimes, the ICC could still declare such a verdict invalid and subject the soldiers to a prosecution. The prosecutor of the ICC has unlimited power with no checks and balances and nor has the court - for a tribunal intended to try war crimes and military personnel - have any provisions for the judges to include military judges who are more familiar with the nature of warfare to understand the context of a supposed war crime the accused is alleged to have committed.

The Bar Council also seems to ignore the fact that we already have a military justice system capable of trying any perpetrators from the MAF who commit war crimes, that is assuming that such will occur. With all the MAF years of active service in the interest of defence and security of the nation, to my knowledge we have yet to have a case, of course the Bar Council will not be aware on this since none of them probably have ever been involved with the military.

Unfortunately the ICC issue seems to be a process where the Bar is trying to score political points at the expense of the brave and dedicated fighting men and women of the Malaysian Armed Forces.

The government is right in not signing the treaty and it is hoped that they will resist any efforts and attempts to sell out the rights and protection of the men and women who put themselves in harm's way for the security and defence of the nation.