Freedom Alliance Hails Bush Decision to Withdraw from International Criminal Court
by Thomas Kilgannon
May 6, 2002
Dulles, Virginia – Freedom Alliance Executive Director Tom Kilgannon and Senior Policy Analyst Fred Gedrich praised President George W. Bush today for withdrawing American support from the flawed International Criminal Court treaty. Today President Bush instructed the U.S. mission to the United Nations to notify UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan that the United States would not become a party to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC).
“Actions taken today by the Bush administration mark a clear victory for American sovereignty over globalism. The International Criminal Court is the judicial branch of the United Nation’s global government. It violates American sovereignty and the constitutional due process rights of all Americans.”
“The administration outlined exactly the right objections to the ICC,” Kilgannon continued, “including the fact that it could engage in politically motivated prosecutions; threaten U.S. sovereignty by asserting jurisdiction over citizens of all states – even those that have not ratified the treaty – and become a power unto itself, not subject to checks and balances from states or other institutions.”
Fred Gedrich, senior policy analyst for Freedom Alliance, added, “We cannot allow our nation’s adversaries to use this court as a tool to influence and meddle with U.S. foreign policy, national security and military affairs – like they are attempting to do in Afghanistan and Guantanamo Bay – as President Bush works to defend freedom and defeat terror.”
Last month, Kilgannon wrote to the President urging him to withdraw the American signature from the ICC treaty. In addition to the objections cited above, Freedom Alliance explained that the ICC would subject certain decisions of the U.S. Supreme Court to ICC review; American citizens brought before the ICC would be denied basic legal protections such as the right to a public and speedy trial by an impartial jury, the right to confront one’s accusers, protection against double jeopardy, and protection against cruel and unusual punishments; and those most at risk of prosecution by the ICC would be American soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines.
“Already,” Kilgannon pointed out, “the globalists – including many members of Congress – are criticizing the President for his actions. These members would be well served to read the Constitution and realize that their oath of office requires them to ‘support and defend the Constitution of the United States’ – not the Charter of the United Nations.”
For more information or to arrange an interview with Tom Kilgannon or Freedom Alliance Senior Policy Analyst Fred Gedrich, please call Freedom Alliance at 703-444-7940.
-30-
Thomas P. Kilgannon serves as the executive director of Freedom Alliance.
freedomalliance.org |
