Posted on 12/10/2003 6:18:08 AM PST by chance33_98
International Criminal Court Will Hear its First Case Next Year Despite International Controversy, Says Crimes of War Project
12/9/03 3:19:00 PM
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To: National and International desks
Contact: Elisa Munoz, 202-494-3834 or elisa@crimesofwar.org; Anthony Dworkin, 44-2-0-78133631, or anthony@crimesofwar.org; both of the Crimes of War Project; http://www.crimesofwar.org
WASHINGTON, Dec. 9 /U.S. Newswire/ -- The International Criminal Court inaugurated on July 1, 2002, will hear its first case next year. The court has been hailed by some as a milestone in international justice and damned by others, notably the United States, as an intolerable attack on sovereignty. However, according to the Crimes of War Project the court's impact may not be what supporters and critics expect. For its fall magazine, (available at the Project's website: http://www.crimesofwar.org ), the Project commissioned five experts to discuss the court's past and future. The articles include: -- The Prosecutor's Strategy Revealed, by Stephanie Maupas -- Latin America: The Court and the Culture of Impunity, by Margaret Popkin -- How Activists Shaped the Court, by Marliues Glasius -- A Big Step Forward for International Justice, by Antonio Cassese -- The International Criminal Court: Why the United States is So Opposed, by Paul W. Kahn According to Anthony Dworkin, the Project's editor, "It is likely that many of the court's early cases will come from countries whose governments are sympathetic to the ideals of international law -- but do not have full control over their own territory: countries like the Democratic Republic of Congo, Afghanistan, or Colombia. In these cases governments may have joined the ICC as part of a broader effort to restore the domestic rule of law: almost as a declaration of the values they hope will come associated with their own administrations."
As of November 2003, ninety-two countries have become party to the ICC, but keeping the U.S. company in its opposition are: Algeria, Burundi, China, Egypt, India, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Liberia, Libya, North Korea, Pakistan, Russia, Rwanda, Sudan, Syria, Uzbekistan, and Zimbabwe. On the question of the validity of US objections to the court and the prospect for joining, it remains unclear whether the US would sign up under a Democratic president. Dworkin explains that: "Some of the leading Democratic presidential candidates have criticized the Bush administration for its hardline opposition to the court. For instance General Wesley Clark has said, 'We've got to find a way to work with this court and bring it around and make whatever modifications need to be made to it.' Governor Howard Dean argued earlier this year that the United States should 'work to rewrite' the Rome Treaty rather than 'walk away' from it. Senator John Kerry has said, 'I support U.S. participation in the International Criminal Court, but also believe that U.S. officials, including soldiers, should be provided some protection from politically motivated prosecutions.' Still, it is notable that, of the candidates, only the outsider Rep. Dennis Kucinich has stated unequivocally that the United States should become a party to the International Criminal Court as it now stands."
For additional background on the International Criminal Court go to the full text of the Magazine at http://www.crimesofwar.org.
International Clown Court........Upright marsupials come to mind.
Journalists should fear the court's effects. Filming or covering police actions in any of the member states could be quite deadly for the press.
No, what's notable is that the dim's want no sovereignty for the United States.
They [dim's] espouse whatever "policies" they think will gain voter favor, while marching unflinchingly toward their dream of one world socialism, and the destruction of the United States as we know it.
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