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Nation : The US stands with Burma,



The Nation

EDITORIAL: The US stands with Burma, Iraq, Nigeria

A case of unlikely bedfellows? Or an unholy alliance? Whatever it was, the
battle lines at the International Criminal Court conference over five
gruelling weeks in Rome was clear -- global pariahs on one side and the
rest of the world on the other. 


The court -- the last major international institution to be established
this century -- will finally put some teeth into the slew of international
human rights laws. First mooted after World War II, the court will bring to
justice those who have committed war crimes, genocide, crimes against
humanity and aggression. Which is why countries like Burma, Iraq and
Nigeria are understandably worried. But what has surprised many is that the
US has jumped into the same boat as these international outcasts. 

In fact Washington took the lead in the bid to kill the court. It had
sought exclusion from the treaty of states which refuse to sign -- in
short, if dictators do not ink the pact, they are virtually untouchable. It
also wanted an escape clause -- states which had ratified can opt out of
prosecutions for crimes against humanity and war crimes but not genocide.
The reason: the US is more likely to fall foul of the first two. 

Moreover, it wanted the court under a tight leash -- that the prosecutor
would only act under the orders of the UN Security Council where the US and
four other nuclear powers can exercise their veto rights. But the most
outrageous of all US demands was a guarantee that none of its soldiers or
citizens would ever come before the court. 

One would ask: why should Americans be exempted from the jurisdiction of
the court? What happens to the principle that everyone is equal before the
law and that there should be no exception when it comes to the
administration of justice. Isn't this, as we are reminded often enough by
the Americans, the linchpin of democracy? 

Now, however, the world's major democracy is telling everyone that while it
takes the high moral ground in pursuing human rights around the globe, it
is not at all interested in global democracy. 

But the spectacle of the US taking the side of global pariahs shouldn't
surprise anyone. When it comes to undermining justice, the Mafia often
links arms with neighbourhood thugs. No doubt, the US is the most powerful
country in the world -- it has always called the shots, so there is no
reason why it should now succumb to the dictates of global rules. The
problem is a growing number of global citizens no longer buy such
pax-Americana nonsense. 

Even if the world were to make concessions to the US, the Americans are not
likely to ratify the treaty. Powerful Senator Jesse Helms, chairman of the
Senate Foreign Relations Committee, declared that the pact would be ''dead
on arrival'' if there were any hint that it might apply to the US. Given
this, the world is better off with a strong and credible court. But instead
of doing that, the 156 delegations in Rome opted to offer sweeteners to
entice recalcitrant countries to come on board. 

The court will now not include the use of nuclear weapons as a war crime as
India had sought. While it will have an independent prosecutor who is not
under the dictates of the Security Council, the court will need to seek
permission from either the nation where the alleged crime was committed or
the suspect's home country before it can proceed. 

Still, all this is not good enough for the Americans. 

Last Friday, 120 countries voted in favour of the court, while the US and a
handful of others voted no. It was one of the few occasions that the US did
not have its way. The ultimate winners are, of course, the citizens of the
world, especially the NGOs which had fought long and hard for the
establishment of the court, and without whom there wouldn't be a treaty,
let alone a viable and independent ICC. 

It's clear that the world will have to get by without the Americans. One
day, and hopefully soon, the US will come around and join the global
community in building a global regime where human rights laws are respected
and upheld by all countries -- big and small, rich and poor, powerful and
weak. And until then, every time Washington talks about human rights and
democracy, we will have to take it with a pinch of salt. 



The Nation