-Caveat Lector- http://www.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2001/12/19/161533.shtml
WJPBR Email News List [EMAIL PROTECTED] Peace at any cost is a Prelude to War! Congress Poised to Protect Troops From 'Bogus' International Trials John Rossomando, CNSNews.com Thursday, Dec. 20, 2001 A U.N.-sponsored treaty, designed to authorize the trial of war criminals, needs the ratification of only 13 more nations before taking effect. But, even before that happens, Congress appears poised to block the treaty's jurisdiction over members of the U.S. military. Sen. Jesse Helms, R-N.C., fears the United Nations' International Criminal Court (ICC) would allow Americans to be subject to "bogus, politicized prosecutions" on foreign soil, stripping them of their rights under the U.S. Constitution. Helms' American Service Members Protection Act would restrict "U.S. cooperation with the court, and would cut off foreign aid to any country that ratifies the ... treaty," according to Senate Foreign Relations Committee spokesman Lester Munson. Earlier this month, the Senate voted 78-21 to attach a modified version of Helms' legislation to the Defense Department appropriations bill. Congressional conferees are now trying to reconcile the Senate and House versions of the defense bill. Long Arm of the U.N. And, there is a new sense of urgency because 47 nations have already ratified the treaty. Under terms of the treaty, negotiated in Rome in 1998, once 60 countries have approved the pact, it will automatically take effect and allow the U.N. to claim jurisdiction even over countries that have chosen not to ratify. Although not ratified by the U.S., former President Bill Clinton did sign the treaty last year. "The International Criminal Court would claim jurisdiction over U.S. troops even if the United States doesn't ratify the treaty. That is a key fact that a lot of people do not understand," Munson said. According to Munson, if an indicted American service member were arrested in a country that had ratified the treaty, that service member could be tried before the ICC. Attack on U.S. Freedom "What it really does is have a chilling effect upon the freedom of Americans," Munson said. "This court will have all sorts of unchecked jurisdictions and that is one of the fundamental problems with the treaty and with the court." The ICC would be composed of 18 judges serving nine-year terms and selected by nations that have ratified the treaty. Helms and other conservatives fear those judges might be selected from Cuba, Iraq, Iran, Libya, Syria and other nations hostile to the United States. They are also concerned that American troops currently dropping bombs on Afghanistan might be subject to ICC prosecution for the inadvertent deaths of civilians. Coalition for the International Criminal Court contends the ICC would not pose a threat to American freedoms and sovereignty because the court's statute limits its jurisdiction to serious war crimes. "If any individual is indicted or pursued by the court and is in the custody of the United States, the United States has the right under the Rome statute, whether or not it's a ratifying party, to try that person themselves," said John Washburn, convenor of Coalition for the International Criminal Court. "The request ... must be granted by the court unless the court concludes that the proceeding is a sham, or that the government in question really doesn't have a legal system [or a] judicial system," Washburn said. "The court is aimed at people like Pol Pot, Idi Amin and Milosevic," Washburn said. "If such an American citizen was at home and the U.S. government had not ratified the Rome statute, the U.S. government would have no obligation to cooperate with the court." Kiss Your Rights Goodbye However, an indicted American could be turned over to the ICC if he or she were arrested on the soil of a country that had ratified the treaty or wanted to cooperate with the ICC, according to Washburn. He said that Americans do not take their constitutional rights with them when they leave American soil, and that American subjection to ICC jurisdiction overseas would not be any different than their current subjection to foreign laws in foreign countries. Washburn said the ICC would act as a permanent war crimes tribunal, replacing other tribunals, such as the Rwanda and Yugoslavia war crimes tribunals. "The court will punish the worst offenders for the worst crimes: genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes," Washburn said. "The United States has had a consistent policy into trying to get people like Pol Pot and Idi Amin ... and Milosevic tried in some kind of tribunal that would have international credibility. "If the U.S wants to continue this policy of having people tried, they had better get together with the court," Washburn said. Since it was modified, most of the Helms bill is symbolic, Washburn said. "The administration said to Helms, [Rep. Henry Hyde] and others that [it could] not support this piece of legislation without change," Washburn said. "Those changes turned out to be waivers of will by the president of every operative part of the bill, so what we have now is a strong statement of psychological and symbolic weight of congressional attitudes toward the court, which the administration is prepared to acknowledge that it shares," he said. *COPYRIGHT NOTICE** In accordance with Title 17 U. S. C. Section 107, any copyrighted work in this message is distributed under fair use without profit or payment to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for nonprofit research and educational purposes only.[Ref. http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml ] Want to be on our lists? Write at [EMAIL PROTECTED] for a menu of our lists! Write to same address to be off lists! <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. 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