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29 June 2002
U.S. HOLDS BOSNIAN PEACEKEEPING MISSION
HOSTAGE IN EXCHANGE FOR IMMUNITY
FROM INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURTIn the past weeks, the US government has been exerting enormous pressure on Security Council members to grant immunity to peacekeepers from the jurisdiction of the new International Criminal Court, which will come into existence on July 1st. The Court will be able to hold individuals accountable for genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes. The international community agreed when the treaty was drafted not to allow such immunities.
The US effort is against international law and threatens the independence and fairness of a Court designed to address the kind of atrocities committed throughout the last century by the likes of Hitler, Pol Pot, Saddam Hussein, Idi Amin, Pinochet, Milosevic, the list goes on.
On 30 June 2002 the day the Bosnian mission was to expire, the United States vetoed the Security Council resolution which would have renewed the mission for another 6 months. Immediately thereafter, the Security Council agreed on a resolution extending the mission for 72 hours. In the meantime, the United States continued to press for immunities from the ICC in exchange for its approval of the Bosnian peacekeeping mission. On 3 July 2002, the Security Council decided upon a technical roll-over of the Bosnian mission until 15 July 2002. In the meantime, the Security Council must find a way of resolving the impasse.
Send letters to Security Council Member States demanding that they resist all U.S. efforts to trade peacekeeping for justice. For a listing of contact information for Security Council members and representatives, see http://www.un.org/Docs/scinfo.htm#MEMBERS .
Also, contact President Bush, Secretary-of-State Colin Powell, and U.S. Ambassador to the UN, John Negroponte demanding that they abandon the efforts to gain exemptions from the ICC, which are unnecessary and unfair. For contact information for these officials, see http://worldworld.com.News Accounts
"Newborn world court fights for survival: US demands for legal immunity put peacekeeping operations at risk," The Guardian (1 July 2002)"U.N. Extends Bosnia Mission to July 15," New York Times, By The Associated Press (3 July 2002)