! Action Alert !

(November 2000)

ATTENTION TO U.S. BASED ADVOCATES AND ORGANIZATIONS

URGENT: HELP STOP THE U.S.� EFFORTS TO SABOTAGE THE INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT!

Take action on an urgent matter regarding the U.S.�s obstructionist role in efforts to create a fair and effective International Criminal Court (ICC). Mark Thiessen, spokesman for Sen. Jesse Helms, R-N.C., presented a letter on Wednesday, 29 November, signed by 12 members of the Republican foreign policy establishment, including Henry Kissinger, Jeanne Kirkpatrick, Caspar Weinberger, James Baker, James Woolsey and others condemning the Court and expressing support for Helms �American Servicemembers Protection Act�. The Act would prohibit U.S. involvement in peacekeeping missions as well as economic assistance involving those countries that support the ICC.

Thiessen warned those gathered at the briefing that they should not expect the Court to come into being if they �value� their �military relationship with the U.S� and further made it clear that the countries involved in the current negotiations needed to decide which is more important, the ICC or their military relationship with the U.S. Thiessen�s claims, like those made in the letter he presented, are accompanied by blatant misrepresentations about the Court�s supposed threat to sovereignty and the danger of politically motivated prosecutions.

The pronouncement came on the third day of the present Preparatory Commission meeting for the ICC, which began on 27 November and runs through 8 December, where it has been widely anticipated that the U.S. will make its final play for a 100 percent exemption from the Court.

PLEASE FAX, EMAIL OR CALL THE PERSONS LISTED BELOW IN THE STATE, JUSTICE AND DEFENSE DEPARTMENTS, AS WELL AS PRESIDENT AND HILLARY CLINTON AND DEMAND THE FOLLOWING:

- THAT THE U.S. CEASE ITS SUBVERSIVE TACTICS AND PLAY A CONSTRUCTIVE ROLE IN THE INTERNATIONAL JUSTICE PROCESS,

- THAT OUR GOVERNMENT SIGN ON TO THIS HISTORIC TREATY AND JOIN THE MANY OTHERS IN THE PURSUIT OF JUSTICE

AND PLEASE CONTACT YOUR SENATORS AND REPRESENTATIVES AND DEMAND THAT THEY REJECT SEN. HELMS� �AMERICAN SERVICEMEMBERS PROTECTION ACT� AND ALL OTHER SIMILAR EFFORTS.

President Clinton

fax: 1-202-456-2461

Secretary of State Madeleine Albright

fax: 1-202-261-8577

Attorney General Janet Reno

Fax: 1-202-307-6777

Secretary of Defense William Cohen

1000 Defense Pentagon

Washington, DC 20301-1000

David Scheffer, Ambassador at Large for War Crimes

fax: 1-202-736-4495

Theresa Loar, President�s Interagency Council on Women

fax: 1-202-647-5337

Bonnie J. Campbell, Director, Violence Against Women Office

fax: 1-202-307-3911

Background:

The ICC will be the world�s first permanent criminal court to try individuals for war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide. The treaty creating the ICC (referred to as the �Rome Statute� for the ICC) was adopted by an overwhelming majority of countries in Rome in 1998. The Rome Statute is also heralded for its integration of gender issues as crimes of sexual and gender violence, including gender-based persecution, are specifically named as crimes for the first time in international law. Thus far, 23 countries have ratified the Rome Statute and 117 have signed.

The U.S., however, along with six other countries, including Iraq, Libya and China, voted against the Court. The U.S. argued that the Security Council should have control of the cases that can come before the Court -- in the form of a veto -- and also wanted an exemption for all U.S. nationals. Being among the five permanent members of the Security Council, such a veto would have situated the U.S. nicely in terms of the influence it could wield over this institution. The other 120 countries voting in favor of the Court held out for a more independent one, though not without numerous concessions to the U.S which resulted in an already complicated and difficult jurisdictional regime.

Since the adoption of the Rome Statute over the U.S.� objections, the U.S. has continued with its efforts to weaken the Court in several ways. First, the U.S. began a policy of insisting on the inclusion of a provision in bilateral agreements that the countries party to such agreements would agree to not extradite U.S. nationals to the Court once it comes into existence. The most recent strategy as put forward by Ms. Albright to the foreign ministries is a proposal which re-introduces the issue of Security Council control over the cases that can come before the Court as well as the issue of an exception for peacekeepers. Both concepts were soundly rejected at the Rome Treaty Conference. This proposal seeks to achieve these same objectives in a more complicated and underhanded way.

We cannot rely on the foreign ministries of other governments to constantly counter the U.S.� pervasive and multi-layered attacks on this institution. Those responsible in the U.S. government must hear loud and clear the voices of women and men in this country in support of the ICC. WE MUST DEMAND THAT THE U.S. PLAY A MORE RESPONSIBLE AND RESPECTFUL ROLE IN THIS PROCESS AND TAKE PART IN INTERNATIONAL JUSTICE ON AN EQUAL FOOTING AND ON THE SAME TERMS AS THE REST OF THE WORLD.

Please feel free to fax the following draft letter or write your own to the following persons. Please also fax or email a copy to the Women�s Caucus for Gender Justice, iccwomen@igc.org / fax 1-212-949-7996.

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(Draft Letter to U.S. Officials)

November 2000

Dear ________________,

We are writing to you about the U.S. role in the ongoing process to establish the International Criminal Court. We understand the U.S. voted against this Court and desires a 100% exemption from the Court�s jurisdiction for U.S. nationals as well as more Security Council control over cases that can come before the ICC. We are concerned about the increasingly more hostile stance taken by our government in relation to the ICC.

We are alarmed by such efforts to weaken the capacity of an institution as necessary for world peace and justice as the ICC. Such an institution must be founded upon principles of independence and impartiality in order for it to do justice evenly and fairly. We understand many concessions were made during the treaty conference specifically in response to U.S. concerns about the Court�s jurisdiction. As a result, the Rome Statute contains a jurisdictional regime, or threshold, that is already more difficult to meet than many countries and organizations in civil society believed appropriate. Further, the Court�s jurisdiction is subject to the principle of complementarity, i.e. the Court can only try cases when the national system is unwilling or unable to do so. Additionally, the Rome Statute contains a series of checks and balances on the Prosecutor�s power to investigate situations and prosecute cases that would eliminate the possibility of politically-motivated prosecutions.

Among the many achievements for which the Statute of the ICC is heralded is its treatment of gender as crimes of sexual and gender violence, including gender-based persecution, are specifically named as crimes for the first time in international law. We are concerned that the U.S. is increasingly lagging behind in the ongoing development of principles and institutions that reaffirm and strengthen the most basic human rights and humanitarian concepts.

We demand that those responsible in the State, Defense and Justice Departments reconsider the official position concerning the ICC in light of the support in the U.S. for such a Court and the need to ensure the independence, impartiality, fairness and effectiveness of this very necessary mechanism of accountability.

More specifically, we demand:

-the U.S. withdraw proposals which effectively reintroduce the Security Council and possibility of exemptions for U.S. nationals into the ICC process in a manner already rejected;

-the U.S. halt all similar efforts that would undermine this Court�s ability to function.

Furthermore, we urge President Clinton to take the opportunity to sign this landmark treaty before leaving office and set the U.S. on an appropriate course, along with many others in the world community, toward ending the culture of impunity.

Thank you for your attention to this matter.

Signed