International Criminal Court coalition condemns US position

The head of the Coalition for an International Court, William Pace, believes that the attempts made by the US administration to remove American citizens from the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court (ICC) are enjoying increasingly less support in the world. The coalition unites more than 2,000 non-governmental organisations that support the ICC.

In a RIA Novosti interview, Pace stressed that the Organisation of American States recently adopted a special resolution condemning an agreement between the USA and individual countries to the effect that US citizens who have committed crimes in these countries will not be extradited to the ICC. Moreover, the European Union has appealed to its member-nations to refrain from signing such agreements, Pace pointed out. According to him, these agreements undermine the jurisdiction of the ICC.

The Coalition for an International Court also condemns a UN Security Council resolution adopted last week that grants international peacekeepers, primarily Americans, a further year's immunity from the ICC. The coalition's head believes that this resolution was approved under US pressure and is an example of a citizen from one country trying to escape international law. He added that the international community is becoming increasingly less inclined to support this position.

In spite of its failure to recognise the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court, in recent years Washington has begun to treat its existence with caution, William Pace said. According to him, evidence of this came in the form of US forces' "sufficiently cautious" actions in Afghanistan and Iraq.