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Attack hague Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20020613/ap_wo_en_po/netherlands_u_s__1http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20020613/ap_wo_en_po/netherlands_u_s__1
Dutch foreign minister protests U.S. bill dubbed the Invasion of The Hague Act
Thu Jun 13, 2:45 PM ET
THE HAGUE, Netherlands - The Dutch foreign minister was outraged, but other members of Parliament poked fun Thursday at U.S. legislation that authorized President George W. Bush ( news - web sites) to use "all means necessary" to free Americans detained for trial by a new international war crimes court.
Often referred to here as The Invasion of The Hague ( news - web sites) Act, the legislation approved last week by the Senate prompted tongue-in-cheek headlines in the weekend newspapers warning of a looming military confrontation with the United States.
"We're digging tank trenches and sending reinforcements to the coast," one foreign ministry official joked.
The International Criminal Court would be the first permanent international tribunal responsible for trying individuals accused of war crimes or atrocities.
The Bush administration fears the court would be used as a political tool to harass Americans and says U.S. soldiers would be vulnerable to prosecution. Supporters of the treaty say it contains safeguards against spurious and politically motivated trials.
So far, 68 countries have ratified the Rome Treaty establishing the court, enough to bring it into force on July 1. The court will have its seat in The Hague, where the U.N. World Court and the ad hoc war crimes tribunal for the former Yugoslavia also are located, and is expected to be operational within 12 months.
Foreign Minister Jozias van Aartsen called the U.S. legislation blocking cooperation with the court "unnecessary" and said it "goes much too far."
"The Dutch government took notice of the law with great outrage and also concern," said Van Aartsen, speaking in a two-hour debate in parliament.
Farah Karimi, a lawmaker of the Greens party, painted a doomsday scenario: "Warships glint on the horizon. An invasion of the beach of Scheveningen (a Hague suburb) is held out as the prospect for us. Suddenly, they know in the United States where The Hague is."
Boris Dittrich, of the centrist D66 party, called it "absurd that one NATO partner accepts legislation that in extreme consequences could lead to an armed conflict between NATO allies,"
The bill, the American Servicemembers' Protection Act, prohibits U.S. cooperation by any government agency or U.S. court, forbids transferring any classified documents to the new court, and says the United States may deny military assistance to any country that is a party to the court.
It also stipulates that "the President is authorized to use all means necessary and appropriate to bring about the release from captivity" of any American servicemen detained by order of the international court.
Van Aartsen told parliament the U.S. government had assured the Netherlands it cannot think of a situation in which it would launch a military action.
A final version of the bill still needs to be signed by Bush.
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