Hyde Opposes U.N. Criminal Jurisdiction over Peacekeepers in Bosnia

House Committee on International Relations ^ | July1, 2002 | Henry J. Hyde

[madfly]

(WASHINGTON--JULY 1, 2002)

Today, U.S. Rep. Henry J. Hyde (R-IL), chairman of the House Committee on International Relations, made the following statement regarding consideration by the United Nations Security Council of options for renewing the mandate for peacekeeping operations in Bosnia:

"I commend the Bush Administration for its dogged efforts in the United Nations Security Council to defend American sovereignty.

No one should expect the United States to deploy its Armed Forces around the world on humanitarian missions on behalf of the United Nations if those forces are to be exposed to prosecution by a United Nations court whose jurisdiction we reject. Other countries can ask us to send our Armed Forces on such missions, as we have done in Bosnia. Or they can insist on the purported right of the International Criminal Court to prosecute United Nations peacekeepers in places like Bosnia. But it is arrogant for anyone to suggest that we must simultaneously keep our Armed Forces in places like Bosnia and acquiesce in United Nations claims of criminal jurisdiction over them.

I find it bizarre that some countries appear to be more interested in exercising criminal jurisdiction over Americans than they are in enhancing the effectiveness of United Nations peacekeeping efforts around the world.

I am particularly puzzled by the claim that granting immunity from the International Criminal Court to United Nations peacekeepers will somehow provide comfort to rogue regimes. The solution to this problem, if it is a problem, is to prevent rogue regimes from participating in United Nations peacekeeping operations. It is not to treat all participants in United Nations operations as if they were rogue regimes."

[madfly]

Bush defending our sovereignty and US troops, great news.

[madfly]

good news ping

[nravoter]

No one should expect the United States to deploy its Armed Forces around the world on humanitarian missions on behalf of the United Nations...

I would've been happy if Henry had stopped the sentence right there, but still it was a great statement, and a long-overdue mega-sovereignty BUMP!

[madfly]

good news ping

[madfly]

I agree. Maybe next time!

[First_Salute]

See: The U.S. case against the court (ICC) is bogus on its face., Minneapolis Star-Tribune, July 2, 2002, by editorial staff (posted by wallcrawlr).

Why is there no mention of the truly large atrocities committed by the extreme left-wing in the Minneapolis Star-Tribune?

Will Castro and the communists of Cuba be arrested?

Will the communists of Southeast Asia be arrested?

Will the communists of Asia be arrested?

Heart of darkness: Cambodia's Killing Fields

 August 8, 2001 [CNN online]

Few Cambodian families did not lose at least one member to the Khmer Rouge

By CNN's Joe Havely

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia -- The fields of Choeung Ek on the outskirts of the Cambodian capital, Phnom Penh, carry a dark secret.

Across the baked earth scraps of cloth and human bone poke through the soil and are slowly bleached white by the harsh tropical sun.

In the center stands a glass-walled shrine containing more than 8,000 skulls -- the remains of just a few of those who died here.

These are the Killing Fields of Cambodia.

Here, just a few kilometers from the center of Phnom Penh, tens of thousands of people met their deaths -- entire families wiped out.

Many of those killed were intellectuals or trained professionals -- people considered counter-revolutionaries by the Khmer Rouge leadership bent on turning Cambodia into a [communist, socialist, leftist, fascist] peasant's paradise. (In " [ ] " --- mine, F_S)

Towards the end of its rule, as the regime became increasingly paranoid and turned on itself, many once senior Khmer Rouge cadres also met their end at Choeung Ek.

Men, women and children -- some just a few months old -- were killed here, often in the most violent and brutal ways.

With bullets in short supply, the condemned were forced to kneel before an open grave then stabbed through the head with a sharpened bamboo stake.

Just one example of the horrors these now silent fields have witnessed.

Reign of terror

The fields of Choeung Ek contain more than 100 mass graves

In the corner of the field stands a tree -- tall, flourishing and peaceful now. A fading sign next to it, accompanied by a rudimentary painting, betrays its terrible past.

Against its trunk the heads of babies were smashed by young men brainwashed into believing their actions would free Cambodia from colonial imperialism.

But Choeung Ek is far from unique.

The evidence of the Khmer Rouge's brutal reign of terror litters the Cambodian countryside.

More mass graves are being discovered all the time.

In all about 1.7 million people are thought to have died as a result of the regime's policies -- either through starvation, execution or sheer exhaustion.

Paranoia

Beginning with the forced evacuation of Cambodia's towns and cities the Khmer Rouge set about transforming the countryside into a massive system of collective farms.

Even monks were not immune from the Khmer Rouge brutality

Machinery was non-existent -- mass labor was seen as the way to overcome any obstacle.

Burdened by inefficiency and the ideological paranoia of their masters tens of thousands were worked to death -- others were executed for stealing just a few grains of rice to supplement their meager rations.

Behind it all was a group bearing the sinister title of 'Angkar', or The Organization, the preferred nom de guerre of the Khmer Rouge.

At its head was the so-called Brother Number One, the now infamous leader Pol Pot.

Yet for all the death and misery the Khmer Rouge wrought on this small Southeast Asian nation, no one has stood trial for the group's crimes.

Pol Pot died in his jungle hideaway in 1998, held under house arrest by a Khmer Rouge that had by then turned on its former leader.

Other former leaders have defected to the government in return for amnesty and now live a life of privilege mostly in the former Khmer Rouge stronghold of Pailin, in western Cambodia.

Former Brother Number One Pol Pot died
under house arrest in 1998

After years of debate and uncertainty the government says it is now willing to go ahead with bringing some members of the regime to trial -- who exactly that will be remains to be seen.

Only two leading members are currently in custody -- Ta Mok, the one legged Khmer Rouge military leader, known as "the Butcher"; and Kaing Khek Iev, or "Duch", the former chief executioner and head of the S-21 security prison, most of whose inmates ended their days in the fields of Choeung Ek.

How much longer they will remain in jail remains to be seen.

For many Cambodians the horrors of the past will never be fully laid to rest until those who brought about this country's suffering are brought to justice.

Reuters contributed to this report.

 

Will the liberals and leftists in America, who insisted upon the non-use of D.D.T. around the world, since the early 1970's, be arrested for the deaths of millions of people who then suffered, slowly their deaths from malaria?

[madfly]

good news ping

[SAMWolf]

Thanks for the ping. bump

[madfly]

good news ping.

sorry for any duplicate pingz

[steve50]

I wonder what will happen when this ICC decides to go after our Plan Columbia. You know they are going to call it chemical warfare on a civilian population

[RWCon]

The first problem is just why the hell we have "peacekeepers" in Bosnia. The whole business of inserting ourselves in local conflicts is nonsense. If the contending
parties cannot come to agreement we should let them kill each other. We should not take
sides. We should cut off all financial aid.

[Free the USA]

thanks for the pings

[185JHP]

Tks for ping! I like this!

[WakeUpChristian]

they the U.N ,world bank IMF pay no tax

This is Official Document from the World Bank

The World Bank ISIBH street N.W. (202)477-1234

INTERNATIONAL BANK FOR RECONSTRUCTION AND DEVELOPMENT Washington, D.C. 20433 Cable Address: INTBAFRAD

INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT ASSOCIATION U.S.A. Cable Address: INDEVAS

Verification of Employment

August 16, 1999

TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN:

The information listed below certifies the employment status of the indicated World Bank Group staff member as recorded in official records. The staff member is exempt from U.S. Federal and State taxes as provided in the By-Laws and Regulations of the World Bank Group inasmuch as World Bank Group income is concerned.

Name:

Title: Operations Officer Organization: IBRD

Department: Africa Region Resident Missions Duty Station: ACCRA, Ghana Appointment Type: Local Fixed Term Date of Appointment: 3/2/95

Gerard Byam Sector Manager, Finance Africa Region

RCA 248423. Ifl WUI 64145 tfl FAX (202) 477-6391

[TaRaRaBoomDeAyGoreLostToday!]

bttt

[river rat]

I would like to see a list of the "targets" for this fine International Court... I want to see the NAMES... I wonder if any of the Leftist, Radicals, Racist murderers of the turd world are targeted......or just Americans and their allies.

Screw this court, Screw the U.N., Screw the Left....

Americans should attack only our enemies and the enemies of our TRUE ALLIES, and let the rest of the world devour themselves.
Semper Fi

[EODGUY]

Every member of Congress and the Senate should be lauding our President's resolve to maintain our sovereignty.

I mentioned yesterday that if civilians in Afghanistan were indeed killed by an errant US bomb, I'm sure the UN would love to try the pilot as a war criminal.

[Alamo-Girl]

Thanks for the heads up!

[Tailgunner Joe]

bttt