| Date: | Sat, 22 Jun 2002 19:24:14 -0400 |
| To: | |
| From: | "Bob Olsen" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> | Block Address | Add to Address Book |
| Subject: | Killing is legal if you are white or American. |
Killing is legal if you are white or
American. Otherwise, it is illegal
U.S. demands exemption for U.S. soldiers
before the International Criminal Court.
Britain and France also seek exemptions for their
soldiers serving as peacekeepers in Afghanistan.
Globe and Mail, June 22, 2002 � Page A16
Canada, other allies blast immunity push
Bush administration wants peacekeepers
shielded from prosecutions of war crimes
By PAUL KORING
WASHINGTON -- Washington's efforts to shield U.S. soldiers on UN
peacekeeping missions from being hauled before the International
Criminal Court are opposed by Canada and other U.S. allies.
"We urge the Security Council to reject the U.S. proposals," Foreign
Affairs spokeswoman Nancy Bergeron said yesterday in Ottawa as U.S. diplomats
at the United Nations attempted to win support for a resolution giving their
soldiers blanket immunity from war-crimes charges.
Fears that U.S. President George W. Bush's administration will recall
its peacekeepers in the Balkans and elsewhere eased yesterday when a vote
on renewing the Bosnian civil-police mandate was deferred. But the issue
seems likely to bedevil relations between Washington and its closest allies,
with Mr. Bush's government seeking military help in its war against
international terrorism at the same time it demands that U.S. soldiers receive
special treatment by the international court.
Washington has also asked the governments of Bosnia and East Timor to
grant U.S. peacekeeping personnel exemption from prosecution, which host
countries are allowed to do under the treaty creating the court.
Britain and France, strong proponents of the court, also have sought
exemptions for their soldiers serving as peacekeepers in Afghanistan,
part of a profusion of double standards and exemptions threatening to
overshadow the court, to be based at The Hague, the Netherlands.
(The court officially comes into being on July 1, but it isn't expected
to be operating until next year.)
It remains unclear why countries need exemptions if they are willing to
prosecute their own soldiers for alleged crimes.
The treaty establishing the court gives signatories the primary right
to prosecute if they are "able and willing."
But senior U.S. officials said that they fear the court might attempt
to enforce jurisdiction.
"We ought to be exempt from that so there isn't that kind of political
harassment that can take place unfairly, particularly when you know
you're fighting the global war on terror," U.S. Defence Secretary Donald
Rumsfeld said yesterday.
Ottawa, a staunch supporter of the ICC, believes that no Canadian
troops would face prosecution, because they would first face criminal or
disciplinary procedures under Canadian military justice.
"I'm confident [that] in the case of any actions that were improper in
military matters, any of our troops would be prosecuted by our own
courts," Foreign Minister Bill Graham recently said.
Mr. Bush's administration, by comparison, is waging a three-pronged
assault against the International Criminal Court, the first permanent tribunal
to prosecute war crimes, including that of genocide.
First, it renounced former U.S. president Bill Clinton's signature on
the treaty.
Then it sought specific exemptions from countries hosting UN
peacekeeping missions where U.S. personnel are serving.
Finally, it has drafted a UN Security Council resolution that would
grant U.S. troops immunity from prosecution by the ICC while serving on UN
missions.
The Security Council resolution won't be considered until later this
month, but it is expected to face stiff opposition.
Three of the five permanent Security Council member states -- Britain,
France and Russia -- have signed the ICC treaty. The fourth, China, has
yet to sign but has opposed a U.S. exemption.
� 2002 Bell Globemedia Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved.
.............................................
Bob Olsen Toronto <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
.............................................
Do You Yahoo!?
Sign-up for Video Highlights of 2002 FIFA World Cup
