Will Zimbabwe abide by the ICC ? Probably not, as well.
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Roundup: US becomes increasingly isolated on ICC issue
Xinhuanet 2002-08-21 13:34:38
@@WASHINGTON, Aug. 20 (Xinhuanet) -- The United States has become increasingly isolated as more and more countries turn down its request for bilateral agreements seeking immunity for its peacekeepers from the justice of the newly-created International Criminal Court (ICC).
@@Rejecting such a US proposal, Yugoslav President Vojislav Kostunica said on Aug. 12 that the US request posed a serious threat to international law, insisting that all countries, big or small, should be equal.
@@In a statement issued on Aug. 13, the Swiss Foreign Ministry said Switzerland will not sign a deal with the US to protect Americans from being extradited to the ICC, arguing that the court would be undermined if Bern agreed not to send US citizens to The Hague-based court.
@@Swiss Foreign Minister Joseph Deiss criticized the Bush administration for refusing to ratify the treaty providing for the establishment of the court.
@@"We think it is very important that the ICC is effective and therefore there should be no exceptions," the minister was quoted as saying.
@@The Swiss position was echoed by many of its European neighbors,especially the European Union (EU) as a whole.
@@Romano Prodi, president of the European Commission, slammed Romania on Aug. 13 for signing a non-extradition pact with the US without consultation with the bloc. Romania and Israel are the only two countries that have entered bilateral agreements with theUS on not extraditing US citizens to the ICC.
@@The EU chief warned EU candidates not to rush into any agreement with Washington on the ICC issue before the union fully explores the legal justification of such agreements at a meeting of foreign ministers next month.
@@Meanwhile, some other European countries, including Norway, Spain, Slovakia, Croatia and the three Baltic states, joined the chorus by either turning down the US requests or deciding to sharea common position with the EU.
@@Even some non-European countries, such as Canada and India, have declared not to get on board the US-proposed non-extradition pacts. The Colombian government, threatened by Washington with cut-off in billions of economic and military assistance, is facing growing domestic pressure to reject the US "coercion."
@@The ICC is the first permanent international forum for the prosecution of genocide and other crimes against humanity and willtake on cases when individual countries concerned are either unable or unwilling to bring prosecutions themselves.
@@The legal framework of the court was drawn up at a special UN conference in 1998, when 139 nations signed the statute for the ICC.
@@As more than 70 signatories have ratified the treaty, which exceeds the minimum 60 countries required for its effectiveness, the court went into operation on July 1 this year and is prepared to take up legal cases from January 2003.
@@Although a strong advocate for the establishment of the ICC at the beginning, the US backtracked for the sake of its own nationalinterests as it has behaved in the cases of the Comprehensive TestBan Treaty and the Kyoto Protocol.
@@In fact, the Clinton administration signed the statute for the ICC in May 2000, but the Bush administration has refused to recognize the legitimacy of the court and vowed it will never move to ratify the treaty.
@@Ostensibly, the Bush administration has tried to justify its rejection by arguing that the court's jurisdiction threatens US sovereignty and hostile nations may seek unfair or political-motivated prosecution against US soldiers through the court.
@@What the US is really concerned, analysts say, is that it may no longer have a free hand in carrying out military interventions abroad if US soldiers are subject to the justice of the court.
@@According to a white paper issued by the Pentagon in 2000, the US military presence spreads in as many as 160 countries with a total of 300,000 soldiers or military personnel.
@@Following the September 11 terror attacks on New York and Washington, the Bush administration, widely criticized for its unilateralism, has adopted a more belligerent foreign policy, trumpeting preemptive attacks against terrorist threats and vowingto seek a regime change in Iraq with force if necessary.
@@Within such a context, US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld hasdescribed the ICC as a "threat" to US soldiers operating overseas.
@@On June 30, one day before the court formally went into operation, Washington threatened to withdraw from the peacekeepingmission in Bosnia to press for a total US immunity.
@@After hectic bargaining with the US, the UN Security Council agreed to grant one-year immunity for US soldiers participating inpeacekeeping missions.
@@Obviously unsatisfied with the outcome, the Bush administrationbegan to seek non-extradition pacts on the bilateral basis in an attempt to bypass the ICC completely.
@@Meanwhile, the US Congress authorized the administration to reduce or cut off military assistance to countries which refuse tosign bilateral agreements with the US on the handover of Americansto the court and to use any "necessary and appropriate means," including use of force, to free US servicemen in the court's custody.
@@The coercive approach to force bilateral agreements and the attempt to seek "special treatment" from the justice of the ICC have obviously backfired as more and more countries stand out to say "no."
@@As the dispute between the US and the international community over the ICC continues, the EU, a strong critic of US unilateralism, is expected to hold a ministerial meeting next month to seek a coordinated position in response to the US demand.
@@Whatever the outcome, analysts say, the meeting will have a far-reaching impact on the fate of the ICC. Enditem |
