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U.S. Lawmakers Snub Noses at World Court
Tuesday, November 13, 2001
By Jim Lobe & Abid Aslam
Inter Press Service

"I cannot believe that at the very moment we are asking the world to join in apprehending the thugs and criminals who claimed 6,000 lives," Senator Christopher Dodd, a Democrat, said last month, when the Craig amendment was approved, "we would say we will have nothing to do with the establishment of an international criminal court."

WASHINGTON
The administration of President George W Bush faces a potential new obstacle to maintaining international support for its "war against terrorism" - this one erected by US legislators.

At issue is the American Servicemen's Protection Act (ASPA), an amendment to the State Department budget bill for 2002 that, if signed by Bush, would bar any US cooperation with the nascent International Criminal Court (ICC), even on a case-by-case basis. A key congressional conference committee approved the ASPA late last week. The amendment also would prevent the administration from even sending a US delegation to negotiations to hammer out operational details of the tribunal, which is being set up in the Netherlands to prosecute war crimes, genocide, and other crimes against humanity.

The decision attracted little immediate attention but could prove momentous, observers say. ICC proponents denounced the lawmakers' action, calling it especially counterproductive at a moment when Washington needs international support in pursuit of the administration's crusade against terrorist mastermind Osama bin Laden, Afghanistan's ruling Taliban militia, and as yet unidentified terrorists and their supporters worldwide. European countries have pleaded with Washington not to oppose the ICC. They include Germany, which has pledged troops to the US-led "war".
(More: Atimes.com News Source)
2001 © Asia Times Online Co., Ltd.

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