-Caveat Lector- >on one hand- what an arrogant bastard america is (again). on the other at least it might keep american soldiers where they belong- america.
Saturday, 13 July, 2002, 03:20 GMT 04:20 UK Dispute over war crimes court settled The US was concerned its soldiers may be prosecuted The United Nations Security Council has voted unanimously to exempt US peacekeepers from prosecution by the new war crimes court for a year - ending a bitter row that threatened peacekeeping operations. The Bush adminstration, which considers the court an affront to US sovereignty, had said it would veto such missions wherever it believed American troops might be prosecuted. We will never permit Americans to be jailed John Negroponte US ambassador But after weeks of wrangling and amid howls of protests against the US stance, Washington backed away from seeking permanent immunity for its troops, so enabling the UN to adopt the compromise resolution. The council then renewed immediately renewed the UN's peacekeeping mandate in Bosnia, which Washington had threatened to block. Assurance But while the future of UN peacekeeping and the newly established International Criminal Court (ICC) appear to have been saved, neither the UN nor the court have emerged unscathed from what has been a marathon diplomatic battle, says the BBC's Greg Barrow in New York. Days of intense negotiation ended in compromise The resolution calls for a 12-month exemption in investigating or prosecuting peacekeepers who are from countries that do not support the ICC. The Security Council will have to renew this immunity on an annual basis which gives Council members an option to take away this added protection. For Washington, it falls short of the blanket immunity that it had first sought against what it fears could be frivolous or politically motivated prosecutions of US troops. But the deal does offer a practical way out of a damaging dispute with most other UN member states. 'Sad day' The US ambassador to the UN, John Negroponte, said the resolution offered a degree of protection but warned that the US Government would never permit the detention of any American by the court. "We cannot accept a structure that may transform the political criticism of America's world role into the basis for criminal trials of Americans who have put their lives on the line for freedom," he said. But some of the strongest supporters of the ICC court say that while the new resolution will have little practical effect on the court's work, it has set the bad precedent of Security Council interference in an internationally agreed treaty. "We think this is a sad day for the United Nations," said Canada's ambassador Paul Heinbecker. "We don't think it's in the mandate of the Security Council to intepret treaties that are negotiated somewhere else." The ICC is the first permanent court to try war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide. It is expected to start work in The Hague in about a year. In terms of UN business, the settlement of the dispute allowed Council members to extend the mandate of a UN police training mission in Bosnia, and also a smaller mission in the Croatian enclave of Prevlaka. They were in danger of being terminated on Monday by a US veto if the court dispute was not settled. <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/";>www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance—not soap-boxing—please! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'—with its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright frauds—is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. ======================================================================== Archives Available at: http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html <A HREF="http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html";>Archives of [EMAIL PROTECTED]</A> http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ <A HREF="http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/";>ctrl</A> ======================================================================== To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om
