-Caveat Lector-
[Well, he's still searching for a legacy, but, isn't using
cluster bombs against civilian targets an "egregious human rights
abuse?" --MS]
Sunday December 31 3:03 PM ET
Clinton OKs War Crimes Court Entry
By LAWRENCE L. KNUTSON
Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) - Acting at the last moment, President Clinton on
Sunday authorized the United States to sign a treaty creating the
world's first permanent international war crimes tribunal to
bring to justice people accused of crimes against humanity.
The president said his action, taken with some reservations,
builds on U.S. support for justice and individual accountability
dating to American involvement in the Nuremberg tribunals that
brought Nazi war criminals to justice after World War II. ``Our
action today sustains that tradition of moral leadership,'' he
said.
The treaty should not be submitted to the Senate for ratification
until certain concerns are met, he said.
``I believe that a properly constituted and structured
International Criminal Court would make a profound contribution
in deterring egregious human rights abuses worldwide...,'' the
president said in a statement issued at the White House.
The treaty must be ratified by the Senate before U.S.
participation in the tribunal becomes final. Fierce opposition
to its terms is expected from conservatives led by Sen. Jesse
Helms, R-N.C.
The president said he acted ``to reaffirm our strong support for
international accountability and for bringing to justice
perpetrators of genocide, war crimes and crimes against
humanity.''
``In signing, however, we are not abandoning our concerns about
significant flaws in the treaty,'' the president said. ``In
particular, we are concerned that when the court comes into
existence, it will not only exercise authority over personnel of
states that have ratified the treaty, but also claim jurisdiction
over personnel of states that have not.''
``Given these concerns, I will not and do not recommend that my
successor submit the treaty to the Senate (for ratification)
until our fundamental concerns are satisfied,'' he said.
Clinton acted at Camp David, the presidential retreat in western
Maryland where he and his family are spending the last New Year's
weekend of his administration.
Sunday was the deadline for countries to sign on to the
international criminal court treaty and transmit it to United
Nations headquarters in New York. After Sunday, ratification is
the only way a government can express support for the treaty or
associate itself with it.
The court would be the first permanent institution created
specifically to try charges of war crimes, genocide and crimes
against humanity. At present the United Nations has two
specifically targeted and temporary war crimes courts in
operation. One deals with suspects from the Bosnia-Herzegovina
civil war of the early 1990s and the other with people implicated
in atrocities during unrest in Rwanda in 1994.
Treaty supporters contend that a permanent international war
crimes court is ``the missing link'' in the global legal system
and say that over the past half century there have been many
instances of war crimes and crimes against humanity that have
gone unpunished.
For example, supporters note that no one has ever been held
accountable for the alleged genocide in Cambodia in the 1970s
when an estimated 2 million people were killed by the Khmer Rouge
or for killings in such other countries as Mozambique, Liberia
and El Salvador.
Support for a permanent international war crimes tribunal was
first expressed in the years immediately after World War II.
Interest in creating such a court has been voiced periodically
ever since.
The United Nations contends that setting up temporary courts to
deal with alleged war crimes in specific countries has been an
inadequate response because unavoidable delays lead to such
consequences as deteriorated evidence, escaped or vanished
witnesses, and witness intimidation.
Some in the United States have expressed concern, however, that
U.S. approval of such an international tribunal might subject
American citizens to politically motivated prosecutions.
Helms, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, has
campaigned vigorously against the court. He has pledged to give
top priority during the congressional session starting next week
to passage of a bill that would bar U.S. cooperation with any
such international tribunal.
Helms also has tried to persuade Israel, which also is delaying
its decision until the last minute, to reject the international
court. In an opinion piece in an Israeli newspaper this month,
Helms said that if the court existed now, senior Israeli
officials possibly could have been indicted for actions taken to
put down the ongoing spasm of anti-Israeli violence by
Palestinians.
The United States and Israel were among the handful of countries
that did not sign the statute creating the treaty when it was
issued in Rome in 1998.
Four countries signed the treaty on Friday - the Bahamas,
Mongolia, Tanzania and Uzbekistan - which brings the number to
136.
Twenty-seven have ratified it, and 60 are needed before the
treaty can enter into force.
Human rights groups pushed Clinton on Friday to sign the treaty.
Human Rights Watch said ``history will look harshly on President
Clinton if he fails to sign,'' and Amnesty International said
Clinton's signature ``will demonstrate U.S. support for the rule
of law and for equal justice for all.''
=================================================================
Kadosh, Kadosh, Kadosh, YHVH, TZEVAOT
FROM THE DESK OF:
*Michael Spitzer* <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Best Way To Destroy Enemies Is To Change Them To Friends
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