Free Republic

A short time after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu landed in Hungary last week, a representative of the International Criminal Court sent a request to the Hungarian government asking it to extradite him. The request, which was revealed by Channel 12, included a demand for the Prime Minister to be temporarily detained per the Treaty of Rome under which the court operates with a series of unfounded accusations including "use of starvation as a weapon of war," "crimes against humanity," and "attacking civilian areas." The court emphasized that the request is top-secret to protect the process that would allow for the...

This week, Congress will send legislation to President Bush denying economic assistance to any foreign government that refuses to protect U.S. troops, government personnel, and civilians from arbitrary arrest and prosecution before the United Nations International Criminal Court (ICC). While nearly 100 nations have signed "non surrender" agreements with the U.S., many refuse to do so.The United States is not a party to the ICC and does not recognize its jurisdiction. Even so, the court can currently arrest and prosecute our troops and personnel operating in U.N. peacekeeping missions if the host nation is a member of the ICC, accepts...

The United States has "unsigned' the 1998 Rome Treaty that would put America under the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court treaty that Bill Clinton signed on Dec. 31, 2000. The Bush administration took the unprecedented step of "unsigning" an international treaty because, well, simply put, it doesn't trust the international community. Dubbed the "Rome Treaty," it puts signatory nations under the jurisdiction of the International Court at the Hague, grants ICC prosecutors extraordinary powers and grants ICC officials lifetime immunity. The Rome Treaty would give the ICC the right to review U.S. court decisions and re-try individuals if the...

There is a growing school of thought in the US that sees the International Criminal Court and the development of international criminal and humanitarian law over the past decade as a conspiracy against the US, former US ambassador-at-large for war crimes issues David Scheffer said Tuesday . But he denied allegations that the US refusal to ratify the Rome Statute and become a party to the International Criminal Court, or to ask for special treatment by the court, was an immoral act. Scheffer, now a law professor at George Washington University in Washington, was speaking during the second day of...