[1098] in peace2
ah, irony
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Aram W Harrow)
Mon Oct 8 15:25:42 2001
Message-Id: <200110081925.PAA01820@no-knife.mit.edu>
To: peace-list@MIT.EDU
Date: Mon, 08 Oct 2001 15:25:30 -0400
From: Aram W Harrow <aram@MIT.EDU>
Press Release, International Federation of Human Rights (FIDH)
The American government supports a law prohibiting all military cooperation
with States that have ratified the International Criminal Court Statute
(ICC)!
Paris, New York, Dakar, October 3rd 2001 - While the American government is
attempting to realise the widest cooperation of States, including on the
judiciary level, in order to fight terrorism in response to the horrific
attacks on New York and Washington on the 11th of September, the same
government supports a law against the International Criminal Court, which
was introduced yesterday to the American Congress.
The law entitled "American Service member Protection Act" (ASPA) would:
- Prohibit all American cooperation with the ICC;
- Prohibit all military assistance to most of the States that have ratified
the Rome Statute (excluding NATO States and the "major non-NATO allies" as
well as Taiwan);
- Restrict the transmission of information concerning the national security
of States that have ratified the ICC Statute;
- Oppose the American participation to all UN peace-keeping operations;
- Enable the President to use "all necessary and appropriate means" to
liberate an American citizen detained by the ICC.
The project does include the possibility - strictly delimitated - for the
President to lift those prohibitions. Yet, this law really deserves its
nickname, " Hague Invasion Act ", in reference to the Headquarters of the
future International Criminal Court.
Though the Congress did not vote the law yesterday, Mr. Helms, President of
the Congress Commission for Foreign Affairs, intends to grasp any
legislative opportunity to put it back on the agenda. This law appearsto be
part of a compromise reached by the government with the Republican senators,
so that they would agree upon the Act on the overdue payments of the United
States to the UN.
If it were to be adopted, this bill would be an insult to all the victims
expecting the instauration of the International Criminal Court, and to all
the States that have achieved important efforts to contribute to an
effective international fight against impunity.
It really threatens the whole ratification process of the International
Criminal Court and would seriously hinder the running of the future Court.
As of today, 42 States have ratified the Statute. But the States the bill
targets as those that might not receive any American military cooperation
are precisely those that most need support for the ratification. Those are
mainly African, Asian and Arab States.
Finally, in the current situation, this law is totally contrary to the
proclaimed American intention to develop judiciary repression means against
the authors of terrorist crimes, whereas the International Criminal Court
aims at sentencing the authors of the most serious crimes.
This iniquitous bill must be abandoned, purely and simply. By default,
President Bush has to strongly oppose it. Today, the FIDH solemnly calls the
highest American authorities to do so.
Press Contact:
Press Office of FIDH : +33 1 43 55 25 18
Furthermore a Press conference is organised in New York by the International
Coalition for the ICC (the FIDH is member of the directory Committee)
(October 5th, UN headquarters, UNCA, 11am -12am; for further information,
please call: +1 212 687 28 63, extension 18).
For analyses of politics, culture and society in the Middle East, see the
site of the Middle East Research and Information Project (MERIP):
http://www.merip.org
