|
International Criminal Court Voted into Existence, but Lacks Ratification of Key Countries The addition of Bosnia, Bulgaria, Cambodia, Congo, Ireland, Jordan, Mongolia, Nigeria, Romania and Slovakia exceeded the 66 countries needed to ratify the Treaty of Rome, which approved the creation of the new tribunal in 1998. Under its terms, the ICC will come into existence on July 1 with jurisdiction over the most serious violations of international humanitarian law. However, the court will not actually being hearing cases for approximately one year after that, the time it will take to finalize the nomination and appointment of magistrates and other procedural and administrative matters. The ICC, which will be based at The Hague, will handle cases involving genocide, war crimes, aggression and humanitarian offenses committed by state and non-state actors, from government leaders to common citizens. Once the ICC begins its work, these types of crimes will have no statute of limitations. UN Secretary General Kofi Annan has hailed the ICC as a step toward "the globalization of justice to the benefit of all of humanity." Nevertheless, three out of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council who hold veto power have yet to ratify it. China has not even signed the Treaty of Rome, and Russia has put off ratification. The United States, which prides itself as being a defender of human rights around the world, also has withheld its backing. Former President Bill Clinton signed the treaty, but the Bush administration has refused to ratify it. Colombia's El Tiempo newspaper interprets the US position as "another example of White House contradictions. While the US seeks international support for causes such as the war on terrorism, it clings to isolationist positions in defense of its interests-in this case, avoiding the possibility that its citizens will be subjected to any but US justice." The Washington Post too warned that Bush risks "sending a message to the world that the United States disregards international treaties and institutions." Congressional Republicans see the ICC as a politicized system of supranational justice that could put US soldiers on trial for their involvement in foreign conflicts. Secretary of State Colin Powell raised this point in an interview with ABC news, in which he stated that "this is not a situation that we believe is appropriate for our men and women in the army, our diplomats and political leaders." But William Pace, general coordinator of the NGO Coalition for an International Criminal Court-an alliance of more than 1000 civil society organizations and independent experts from around the world-argues that the ICC will actually strengthen national judicial systems. The ICC will "only intervene when the internal justice system is unwilling or unable to do so," he claims. For the countries of Latin America, the creation of the ICC is an incentive to modernize their penal systems and strengthen the independence of their judicial branches. To date, 17 Western Hemisphere countries have signed the Rome statute, but only nine have ratified it. Colombia-which has not ratified the treaty-deserves special attention. The recent massacre of 120 people in the northwestern part of the country is the type of atrocity that could fall under the ICC's jurisdiction. Colombia and other Latin American countries must work to consolidate democracy and end impunity for human rights violations. At last, as Kofi Annan put it, "the long-cherished dream of an International Criminal Court has become a reality. Impunity has just received a heavy blow." The next step is participation by the Western Hemisphere countries in the Assembly of States Parties, planned for the second half of 2002.
|