At the risk of being "redundant"... -- The Chimneyville Discussion Forum

[ Show ]

Support VoyForums

[ Shrink ]

VoyForums Announcement: Programming and providing support for this service has been a labor of love since 1997. We are one of the few services online who values our users' privacy, and have never sold your information. We have even fought hard to defend your privacy in legal cases; however, we've done it with almost no financial support -- paying out of pocket to continue providing the service. Due to the issues imposed on us by advertisers, we also stopped hosting most ads on the forums many years ago. We hope you appreciate our efforts.

Show your support by donating any amount. (Note: We are still technically a for-profit company, so your contribution is not tax-deductible.) PayPal Acct: Feedback:

Donate to VoyForums (PayPal):

[ Login ] [ Contact Forum Admin ] [ Main index ] [ Post a new message ] [ Search | Check update time | Archives: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, [6] ]

[ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ]

Date Posted: 19:35:46 06/30/02 Sun
Author: Rebel..(The original)
Subject: At the risk of being "redundant"...

>> UNITED NATIONS: International Law.
The Associated Press
Published: Jun 30, 2002

The resolution would also have extended authorization for the 18,000-strong NATO-led peacekeeping mission in Bosnia. But NATO said it would not be jeopardized by a U.S. veto because its mandate comes from the 1995 Dayton peace agreement that ended the 3 1/2-year war in the Balkan nation.
The NATO force includes 3,100 Americans and it was unclear whether they would be pulled out.

The United States is demanding that American and other peacekeepers from countries that have not ratified the treaty establishing the court be exempt from arrest and prosecution by the tribunal. It has rejected all compromises that don't grant blanket immunity.

The United States says immunity is needed to prevent American troops and citizens from frivolous and political motivated prosecutions. Opponents say there are enough safeguards to prevent such abuse.

In the first vote Sunday, 13 countries favored extending the mandate for Bosnia's U.N. police training mission for six months and authorization for the NATO-led force for a year. Bulgaria, a sponsor of the resolution, abstained to highlight the absence of council unity but said it still supports the court.

Negroponte said the United States voted against the resolution "with great reluctance" but will not ask Americans in U.N. peacekeeping missions "to accept the additional risk of political prosecution before a court whose jurisdiction the government of the United States does not accept.

"The United States will remain a special target," he said, "and we cannot have our decisions second-guessed."

Supporters of the court expressed dismay at the U.S. action, which could affect the 14 other U.N. peacekeeping missions - from Cyprus to East Timor - as their mandates come up for renewal in the Security Council.

"History, I believe, will record the actions of the U.S. administration of President George W. Bush to wreck U.N. peacekeeping and the International Criminal Court as one of the most shameful lows in global U.S. leadership," said William Pace, head of the International Coalition for a Criminal Court, a coalition of more than 1,000 organizations supporting the tribunal.

U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan urged the council to intensify high-level negotiations in capitals to find a solution.

"The world cannot afford a situation in which the Security Council is deeply divided on such an important issue, which may have implications for all U.N. peace operations," he declared.

This was supposed to be the last six-month extension for the U.N. mission in Bosnia, which has been helping to develop a multiethnic and professional police force. The training operation is being handed over to the European Union on Jan. 1.

Annan said it would be "most unfortunate" if the premature termination of the Bosnia mission set back international efforts to help the country achieve lasting peace "after the country was ripped apart by war from 1992 to 1995."

The veto won't stop the world's first permanent war crimes court from coming into existence Monday. Dutch administrators overseeing its initial months of operation are ready to register claims of genocide and wartime atrocities committed after Monday.

With the backing of 74 countries - despite fierce opposition from the United States - The Hague-based institute will have the authority to prosecute individuals - not states - suspected of war crimes anywhere in the world.

"All who believe in democracy and justice and the rule of law can celebrate," Pace said. "This is truly one of the greatest advances of international law since the founding of the United Nations 57 years ago."

AP-ES-06-30-02 1914EDT

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ouestions? >>>>>---->>>>

[ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ]

Replies:

Re: At the risk of being "redundant"... -- The Cracker, 22:27:09 07/01/02 Mon