US militarily threatens International Criminal Court

This subject has received zero coverage in the mainstream US press, as far as I can tell...

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Conflict over International Criminal Court escalates

(English translation of an article from the Dutch daily the Volkskrant, August 13, 2002 -- linkt to original article

by our correspondent Geert-Jan Bogaerts

The European Union and the United States are about to come to blows over the International Criminal Court in The Hague, the Netherlands. The US is threatening sanctions against the countries that ratify the founding treaty for the court. The EU is pressing its allies to do just that and ratify the treaty.

It is countries in Eastern Europe that are most between a rock and a hard place. Most of these countries would like to be members of both NATO, where they would be in the service of the Americans, and of the European Union. The conflict between the two power blocs means that these countries will possibly be forced to choose.

The Bush administration communicated to foreign ambassadors in Washington last week that their countries run the risk of losing all American military support if they sign on to the tribunal for war crimes, genocide, and crimes against humanity. Only if they promise never to extradite American citizens to the court will they be spared sanctions.

Washington is digging its heels in against the criminal court out of fear that the court will be used against American soldiers. President Bush refuses to cooperate and has signed a law making it possible to free American soldiers held prisoner in The Hague by armed force. The law is known in Washington as the "Invasion of The Hague Act".

Since July 1, when the criminal court was officially established, the American government has been actively seeking allies in its battle against the court. Israel and Romania have since signed bilateral treaties with Washington. These two countries have promised never to extradite American soldiers. Israel, for its part, has never ratified the treaty.

The agreement between Romania and the United States, which was sealed last week, is difficult for the European Union to swallow. Spokespeople of the European Commission in Brussels deemed the agreement "a pity". The Commission had expected the government of Romania, which is a candidate to become a member of the EU around 2007, to wait to hear the official line from the EU.

Bucharest agreed to America's request because the country hopes to become a member of NATO at the end of this year. According to diplomats, the US threatened Romania with a veto if Romania would not comply with American demands.

Yesterday the Commission formally called on the remaining candidates for EU membership to sign no bilateral treaties with the US about the criminal court. "We call on the candidate member states to take care not to take any drastic measures right now," said one spokesperson.

The European Union expects to deliver a formal response in September. "Until that point we must not go farther down this path," said the spokesperson.