EU seeks Arabs support for int'l war crimes court
By Miral Fahmy
11 Jan 2004 14:06
reuters.com
type=worldNews&locale=en_IN&storyID=4106674
SANAA (Reuters) - The European Union is lobbying Arab states to join a U.N.-backed international war crimes tribunal which as been shunned by the United States, an EU parliament member said on Sunday.
Emma Bonino, who also heads the non-governmental group that has pushed for the creation of the International Criminal Court (ICC), said the EU wanted Arab judges on the tribunal to make it as international as possible.
"Arab countries were very active in the process of establishing the ICC but so many have not ratified agreements to join it," she told Reuters at an Arab-EU meeting on the role of the court in the Yemeni capital Sanaa.
"That is why we brought over ICC judges to discuss Arab concerns to increase Arab ratification because for a universal tool, we need representatives from all legal traditions."
Based in The Hague, the ICC is a permanent international tribunal that will try individuals accused of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity.
At a 1998 U.N.-sponsored meeting, 120 countries voted for its creation while seven nations -- including Security Council members China, Russia and the United States -- voted against it.
The court came into force in 2002 but it only has jurisdiction over crimes committed by nationals of governments that have ratified its statutes. Jordan is the only Arab country to have adopted the ICC regulations.
Bonino said most Arab states were concerned the ICC would supersede their own judiciaries, putting on trial Arab citizens without the approval of their governments. Pressure from the United States, the main foreign power in the region, could also be delaying Arab ratification, she added.
Iran has demanded the ICC prosecute former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein over the 1980-1988 Iran-Iraq war.
Bonino said the ICC did not have the power to put Saddam on trial because it could only look into cases after 2002. But she said it could be useful for future conflicts.
"Every country needs an international reference even if the benefits are not immediate," she said. "We acknowledge that the U.N. system has its weaknesses but this system is better than having no system at all," she explained. |
