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Letter
to UN Security Council Member States
Regarding U.S. Efforts to Exempt Peacekeepers
from International Criminal Court
21 June 2002
H.E.Mr.Mikhail
Wehbe
Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
Syrian
Arab
Republic
President, UN Security Council
Re:
U.S.
Efforts
to
Seek
Exemptions
for Peacekeepers
Dear
Ambassador Wehbe,
We are writing to urge your government to resist
efforts by the
United States
to provide exemptions for UN
peacekeepers from the jurisdiction of an international tribunal through
resolutions of the Council.
We appreciate the delicate and pressured situation in
which UN peacekeepers are often deployed but believe it imperative that United
Nations operations and peacekeeping missions be held to the highest standards.
As you know, the Rome
Statute of the ICC provides jurisdiction over some of the most serious crimes
of concern to the international community. These crimes are so serious that
the drafters of the Rome Statute consciously provided in Article 27 that no
immunities, even Head of State or official acts, would stand up against the
Court's jurisdiction. This basic and important principle should then not be
corrupted in practice with respect to UN peacekeepers to satisfy the political
bent of one country. To do so would seriously undermine the legitimacy and
credibility of the future Court not to mention its effectiveness if it is not
able to investigate egregious crimes that would otherwise be within its
jurisdiction.
This
is even more critical when accountability for the types of crimes set out in
the Rome Statute is at stake. We thank you for your attention to this
important matter.
Sincerely,
Pam
Spees
Program Director
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