THE HERITAGE FOUNDATION
January 9, 2001
Overturning Clinton’s Midnight Action on the International Criminal Court
by Brett D. Schaefer
Executive Memorandum #708
President Bill Clinton unexpectedly authorized a U.S. representative to sign the 1998 Rome Statute establishing an International Criminal Court (ICC) on December 31, 2000—the last day countries could become parties to the treaty without ratifying it. This caught Congress and America by surprise; the Administration had refused to sign the treaty for 18 months because, in the President’s words, it had “significant flaws” that threaten the rights of Americans and legitimate activities of the U.S. military. Now the White House is claiming its midnight action will ensure that U.S. negotiators have a voice in the ICC’s actions and procedures and reaffirm America’s opposition to genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity.
Such justifications are disingenuous. The United States has demonstrated its opposition to such offenses, for example, by making substantial commitments to military and humanitarian interventions. Moreover, repeated attempts to secure changes that address its concerns have been rejected. By signing the treaty without those changes, the President has undermined these principled efforts.
The Bush Administration should January 22move immediately to counter President Clinton’s ill-considered action, first by notifying the Secretary-General of the United Nations (the depositor of the treaty) that the United States will not be bound by the current statute, which threatens national sovereignty and is unlikely to be ratified by the U.S. Senate. In the meantime, the Administration should work with Congress to ensure that Americans are protected from the court’s actions and to prohibit U.S. diplomatic or financial support for the court until its concerns have been addressed. If these conditions are not met by the conclusion of the ICC Preparatory Commission’s meetings in March, the Administration should discourage other countries from ratifying the treaty.”
In January of 2002, Pres. Bush overturned Clinton’s midnight acceptance of the International Criminal Court.
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