Posted on 04/07/2003 7:35:45 PM PDT by UnklGene
We will handle trials, say Americans By David Rennie in Washington (Filed: 08/04/2003)
The United States has the "sovereign right" to prosecute Iraqi leaders for war crimes in its own courts, and will not hand Saddam Hussein or his henchmen to any international tribunal, senior American officials said yesterday.
A prisoner is escorted back to his cell at Guatanamo Bay where the US has sole jurisdiction over the suspected terrorists held In a move likely to alarm Downing Street, senior Pentagon and State Department officials summoned reporters to hear a pre-emptive rejection of any role for the International Criminal Court (ICC) - the permanent war crimes tribunal established in The Hague.
Instead, Iraqi leaders accused of war crimes could be tried in federal courts in the United States, or by special military tribunals, they said. The United States had the right to imprison those found guilty, or sentence them to death. Britain, as its ally in the war, would have the same rights.
The Bush administration has aggressively resisted the authority of the ICC, saying it fears that its military personnel and other citizens might be singled out for politically motivated prosecutions. To Britain's dismay, Washington last year "unsigned" the treaty establishing the court, and has leaned on allies worldwide to sign agreements shielding American citizens from any potential ICC probe.
Pierre-Richard Prosper, the United States ambassador for war crimes issues, said the ICC had no jurisdiction over this war, because neither America nor Iraq had signed up to the treaty establishing the court.
W Hay Parks, a senior Pentagon lawyer, accused Baghdad of three specific violations of the Geneva Convention and the rules of warfare, and said others were being investigated and catalogued.
The first two alleged war crimes centred on Iraqi television footage of American soldiers captured and killed when their supply convoy was ambushed near the southern city of Nasiriyah, Mr Parks said.
A third crime involved alleged acts of "perfidy", when Iraqi forces attacked coalition troops while carrying the white flags of surrender, or while disguised in civilian clothes.
Mr Parks said that further charges might be levelled, amid signs that prisoners of war might have been killed, tortured, or treated inhumanely.
The mention of humane treatment raised the prospect that a teenage soldier rescued last week might become a key witness against the Iraqi regime. Pte Jessica Lynch, 19, is the only American prisoner of war to have returned to American custody.
There were initial reports that some members of the 507th Maintenance Company - Pte Lynch's unit whose supply convoy was ambushed at Nasiriyah - had been executed in cold blood.
Funny how it works for the big guys...
I lost all patience when I heard about them murdering our POWs.
Uk-fay u-ya, UN-yaa. U-ya ar-way ussilanimous-pay oofter-pay eenie-ways.
What a bleeding heart. :-)
If the troops don't have throw down guns for when they run into the big fish, then I don't know nuttin.
Believe me, I'm in your corner. I voiced in often when Clinton signed in on ICC. I just get a kick out of the tactics used by the big boys when we really mean no...lol...
Oh, good, good, GOOD... I was hoping for this, in an earlier posting.
Once again, Bush has met my expectations, standing up to "World Opinion"... (Scurry off, you damn rodents!)
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