Former Nuremberg Prosecutor warns against pending US legislation against the ICC
A misguided trap is being set by right wing conservatives. It threatens our national security interests and endangers our military personnel.A cleverly mislabeled "Servicemembers Protection Act," was recently passed by the House and is now pending in the Senate where it was appended as an amendment linked to the Foreign Relations Act authorizing payment of arrears to the United Nations. In the guise of protecting our military, the amendment is clearly designed to abort the creation of an International Criminal Court (ICC) now being formed at the United Nations.
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Nizkor Int. Human Rights Team
Derechos Human Rights
Serpaj Europe
Information
20Jun01
BENJAMIN B. FERENCZ WARNS AGAINST PENDING US LEGISLATION DESIGNED TO
ABORT THE CREATION OF THE INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT.
The Act threatens to impose economic and military sanctions
against any nation that dares to support the Court.
Republican Senator Jesse Helms of North Carolina leads the vigorous
campaign that would repudiate the rule of law laid down at the
Nuremberg trials after World War II - that aggression, genocide, crimes
against humanity and major war crimes would never again go unpunished.
Senator Helms and his supporters demand exemption and immunity for all
U.S. personnel. Conservative attempts to abort the ICC defy the clear
wishes of the vast majority of nations, including our leading European
allies. We are seen as a bully that wants the rule of law for everyone
else but not for ourselves. Without such a court, our military
personnel will remain completely at the mercy of their captors, rather
than under the protective shield of a fair tribunal created and
supervised by the international community.
The campaign to kill the court relies on unfounded allegations designed
to frighten an uninformed public. Scholarly studies by outstanding legal
experts agree that it would be in the U.S. national interest to support
the International Criminal Court. See for example, the publication last
year by the American Academy of Arts and Sciences , the comprehensive
speech by Senator Leahy of Vermont on Dec. 15, 2000; the recommendation
of the American Bar Association in Feb. 2001, the conclusion sent to
Congressman Henry Hyde on Feb. 13, 2001 by ten former Presidents of the
American Society of International Law, endorsing "U.S. acceptance of
the Treaty without change..."; the editorial in the American Journal of
International Law by Monroe Leigh, former Counsel to both the State and
Defense Departments, that the United states can most effectively protect
its national-security interests, as well as the individual interests of
U.S. nationals, by accepting the International Criminal Court, " --
better sooner than later." (95 AJIL 131, Jan. 2001). None of these
persuasive opinions are ever mentioned by opponents of the ICC.
Those who believe in the rule of law that applies equally to everyone
had better let their voices be heard very soon if we are to move toward
a more humane and peaceful world.
June 19, 2001
Benjamin B. Ferencz
A former Nuremberg War Crimes Prosecutor
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RELATED LINKS:
American Servicemembers' Protection Act of 2001 (Introduced in the
House). H.R.1794
http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/D?c107:1:./temp/~c107UR8vOb::
American Servicemembers' Protection Act of 2001 (Introduced in the
Senate). S.857
http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/D?c107:2:./temp/~c107UR8vOb::
Foreign Relations Authorization Act, Fiscal Years 2002 and 2003
(Engrossed in House ). H.R.1646
http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/D?c107:3:./temp/~c107UR8vOb::
Foreign Relations Authorization Act, Fiscal Years 2002 and 2003
(Referred in Senate). H.R.1794
http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/D?c107:4:./temp/~c107UR8vOb::
Personal View Jesse Helms: We must slay this monster. Voting against the
International Criminal Court is not enough. The US should try to bring
it down.
http://www.derechos.org/nizkor/impu/tpi/helms.html#Original English
version.
Benjamin Ferencz, Getting Aggressive about Preventing Aggression, The
Brown Journal of World Affairs, Winter/Spring 1999 Volume VI, Issue 1,
pp. 87 - 96, Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island.
http://www.igc.apc.org/icc/html/ferencz199907.html
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