AS THE foremost superpower, the United States has unparalleled potential for promoting international cooperation and improving human rights. Unfortunately, the Bush administration is actively working to undermine one of the most crucial and internationally lauded developments in the regime of global human rights protection: the International Criminal Court (ICC). Amid national preoccupation with Iraq, and the War on Terror, the crippling effects of American policy on the new regime of international justice are being overlooked. In addition to taking the unprecedented step of repudiating its signed commitment to the Rome Statute (the treaty which established the ICC), the Bush Administration has already signed impunity agreements with 14 nations, including Israel and Afghanistan, requiring these nations to pledge not to surrender American nationals to the ICC.
The objective of these treaties is to preclude the prosecution of Americans under the ICC (www.amnestyusa.org). These actions considerably undermine the integrity of international justice and jeopardize the ability of the international community to protect human rights on a global level. The Bush administration purports to be committed to the principles of human rights and global justice, yet at the same time is actively seeking to invalidate the crucial institutionalization of the prosecution of perpetrators of atrocious crimes against humanity.
The Bush administration opposes the ICC on the grounds that it could be used as a vehicle to promote politically-motivated prosecutions of American citizens (www.state.gov). The Rome Statute has been signed by 139 countries and ratified by 82. The principles of the Rome Statute clearly embody the collective will of the international community, and with the 60th ratification, the treaty became binding international law to those states-parties. In its attempt to exempt American nationals from ICC jurisdiction over genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes, the Bush administration has been pursuing bilateral impunity agreements under threat of withdrawing military aid from those countries, thereby using its military and economic resources as leverage to pursue its political objectives. While the United States has a sovereign right to withhold support from the ICC, the Bush administration has no basis to use its military and economic presence as leverage against those states in support of the ICC. Both Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch are actively protesting the efforts of the Bush administration, asserting that the impunity arrangements constitute a breach of international law.
The ICC exists to ensure justice is sought in the event that a state is not willing to investigate and prosecute crimes that fall under the jurisdiction of the Court. The pursuit of justice, regardless of the perpetrator's nationality, is the fundamental tenet of the ICC. In seeking agreements of impunity, the United States is compelling nations that have ratified the Rome Statute to violate this tenet and is effectively undermining its integrity.
When it comes to war crimes, genocide, and crimes against humanity, there is no neutrality, and there should be no immunity granted to those who are responsible for such atrocious violations of human rights, regardless of whether or not they are American. The Rome Statute of the ICC already contains ample safeguards that would protect any U.S. troops against politically motivated or frivolous prosecutions. These include an independent prosecutor elected by the State parties. The prosecutor must receive authorization from a panel of judges before commencing an investigation. Moreover, the ICC will not undermine or supplant the American federal system. The ICC will only act if national courts are unable or unwilling to take action.The ICC is a compliment to the national system, further enhancing the capacity of the United States to protect human rights on a transnational level. The ICC is not a tribunal designed to become or capable of becoming an easily manipulated arbitrary political tool for nations; the ICC is a vessel for a global partnership in collectively protecting a priority shared by the will of the international community: human rights.
The United States has unparalleled capacity to promote and protect human rights. The Bush administration should take this opportunity to become a leader for international human rights, and to work with the international community to see the implementation and successful operation of the ICC to fruition. Human rights transcend borders, and the global community must coalesce to protect those victims of heinous crimes against humanity and bring the perpetrators, regardless of provenance, to justice.
(Megan Doherty is a member of Amnesty International at U.Va. She is a third-year College student.)
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