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Politics : Foreign Affairs Discussion Group -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: KLP who wrote (48669)	10/1/2002 7:53:38 PM
From: Brian Sullivan	Respond to of 281500

EU agrees to exempt U.S. from war crimes court thestar.com BRUSSELS (AP) — Defusing a trans-Atlantic spat, the European Union agreed Monday to spare American citizens the fate of standing trial on war crimes charges in the newly created International Criminal Court. The EU foreign ministers reached a deal among themselves effectively preventing them from extraditing U.S. soldiers or government officials to the ICC as long as Washington guarantees any Americans suspected of war crimes will be tried in the United States. The U.S. administration has asked for such a blanket exemption, fearing Americans would face cavalier, politically motivated trials stemming from peacekeeping or other military operations in areas of war or crisis. Danish Foreign Minister Per Stig Moeller, chairman of the foreign ministers' meeting, said existing extradition agreements and principles will be strictly applied, foregoing the need of new bilateral accords with Washington. "There is no concession," he said, referring to accusations from human rights groups that the Europeans were caving in to U.S. pressure. "There is no undermining of the International Criminal Court." The EU said there will be no exemption from prosecution for mercenaries: freelance soldiers who are not on a government-mandated peacekeeping or war mission but seek out a conflict or crisis on their own, officials said. The EU foreign ministers agreed to let countries sign bilateral accords with the United States exempting Americans from an ICC trial, if they wish. Britain and Italy have said they may do that. Those that oppose bilateral accords — for fear of a backlash at home — will apply conditions that achieve the same goal. For instance, soldiers stationed abroad are usually exempt from prosecution in the country where they are based under existing accords. Also, officials said, EU countries will invoke diplomatic immunity agreements for U.S. civilians such as politicians, defence department personnel or Central Intelligence Agency employees to keep them out of the ICC. The EU foreign ministers said they will not exempt their nationals from any trial in the ICC, the first permanent international tribunal to judge individuals for war crimes, which opened for business in The Hague in July. EU officials insisted the ICC's integrity and effectiveness have been preserved. "This is very important because the Milosevices and Pinochets of tomorrow will be brought to justice," said German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer, referring to former authoritarian leaders of Yugoslavia and Chile. EU governments have been under pressure from human rights groups and the European Parliament not to give in to Washington.

To: KLP who wrote (48669)	10/2/2002 4:50:39 AM
From: zonder	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 281500

>Do you live in a country that the US sends aid to I live in Monte-Carlo (Principality of Monaco) - We are just fine without US aid, thank you very much :) >Does your country live close to Iraq? I come from a country that is very close to Iraq. I was still living there when Saddam sent chemical weapons to his Kurdish citizens in Northern Iraq. I remember it very clearly, thank you. >Has your country helped in any way any other >country in the world when that country is in need of help? Who do you think took in the Kurds running from the areas where Saddam gassed? Who do you think sent in people to fight against ethnic cleansing in Bosnia in the two years the US did not care about that part of the world? > Does your country have or support suicide bombers? My country has been fighting against terrorism for more than a decade now. More than 10,000 people died due to terrorism during this time, when a separatist group fought the state not only in armed combat against our army wherever they are cornered, but also through bombing of malls, gunning down entire villages, etc. > Do you think Saddam does fund those terrorists? No. Our terrorists were/are trained in countries like Syria and Northern Iraq, the funding came from a number of countries in the "civilized world", with the US and France topping the list, who called them "freedom fighters" :) Think about this: You go to Switzerland on vacation. A sunny day in Geneva, everyone on the streets, suddenly you see "flags" (no such country ever existed) of the terrorist group in your country, hundreds of their supporters, dancing, going around collecting signatures for their cause, etc. You go up to them and reveal your nationality, ask if they would kill you as well (you are 15). They say, "Yes, if you try to stop us". This happened to me. Switzerland supported them, France definitely did, and so did the US. >Do you care that Saddam has gassed and used >chemical weapons on his own people? I guess this question is already answered. Now that your questions are answered, I have one for you: Do you see that none of the issues above are sufficient reason to attack another country? I realize that Americans think it is their right to attack whomever they wish now that they were victims of a terrorist attack. I beg to differ. I read an article recently in the International Herald Tribune, written by former US president Jimmy Carter, no less, that says pretty much what I feel. It is titled "The troubled new face of America". Please take a moment to read this article: iht.com.