The United States has tried unsuccessfully to secure changes that would protect Americans since the treaty was finalized in 1998. If anything, the signature undermines America s position because it implies the treaty is easily fixed, when its problems are fundamental and require wholesale changes. The treaty would create an international legal bureaucracy in the Netherlands with the authority to arrest, prosecute and punish citizens from any country accused of such offenses as war crimes and crimes against humanity. Americans appearing before the court would be denied basic rights that are pillars of our criminal justice system, including a trial by a jury of one s peers, protection from double jeopardy, and the chance to confront one s accusers. ICC supporters argue that an international court is needed to deter genocide and war crimes.
Despots don t pause to weigh the possible legal ramifications before committing atrocities .
Consider that the treaty s signatories include Sudan, whose government has regularly bombed civilian targets in its ongoing civil war, and Zimbabwe, which signed the treaty after its president had stolen the country s latest election and encouraged his supporters to murder political opponents. More likely, repressive governments would use the ICC to harass nations such as the United States with spurious and politically motivated accusations designed to discourage U.S. military action in support of its national interests. To circumvent this, President-elect Bush should immediately notify treaty officials in writing that the United States will refuse to be bound by the treaty . The administration should then work with Congress to enact legislation that would prohibit U.S. cooperation with the ICC, authorize actions to free U.S. military personnel and officials held by the Court, and bar American funding for the Court until this country s concerns are adequately addressed. President-elect Bush s pick for Secretary of Defense, Donald Rumsfeld, identified the stakes quite well in a letter to Congress in December.