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Countries face loss aid over court Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)
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Latin America
Three-Dozen Nations Face Loss of U.S. Aid Over Court (Update1)
June 30 (Bloomberg) -- About three dozen countries face cut- offs of more than $200 million in U.S. military assistance for having failed to sign agreements exempting U.S. troops from a new international criminal tribunal, the Bush administration said.
The targeted countries include Colombia, Croatia and Slovenia in the dispute over the International Criminal Court, a tribunal whose formation has driven another wedge between the U.S. and its allies, including the European Union.
``There should be no misunderstanding that the protection of U.S. citizens and service members from potential prosecution by the International Criminal Court will be a significant and pressing matter in our relations with every state,'' State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said today in Washington.
President George W. Bush has opposed the formation of the war crimes tribunal due to begin functioning later this year at The Hague, citing its potential misuse by politically motivated prosecutors. France, Germany and other European nations say that fear is groundless.
The court's rules allow participating nations to grant country-by-country immunity agreements, and the U.S. Congress voted last year to halt several types of military aid to countries that don't sign accords with the U.S. by July 1.
50 Nations Signed On
More than 50 countries have signed exemption accords with the U.S., which are known as Article 98 agreements, including at least seven that have asked that they not be publicly identified, Boucher said.
The measure passed by Congress threatens countries with an end to military aid programs worth about $230 million a year, according to the NGO Coalition for the International Criminal Court, a network of groups that support the tribunal. They include International Military Education and Training, the main U.S. military training program, involving $80 million a year.
The congressional measure exempted NATO members and other U.S. allies including Israel, Egypt, Australia, New Zealand, South Korea, Japan, Jordan, Argentina, Bahrain, the Philippines and Taiwan. It allowed the president to grant additional waivers from the law as he deems necessary.
That leaves at least three dozen other countries facing cut- offs in aid tomorrow, Boucher said. Among the most prominent is Colombia, where the U.S. has spent more than $1.7 billion on military and other aid since 2000 to help fight drug trafficking and related violence in the world's leading supplier of cocaine.
Annan's Protest
The United Nations Security Council, over the protest of UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, voted 12-0 earlier this month to give U.S. citizens in UN peacekeeping missions a one-year grant of immunity from the criminal court.
France, Germany and Syria abstained from the vote to protest the U.S. position. The Greek ambassador to the UN, Adamantios Vassilakis, speaking on behalf of the European Union, said U.S. concerns about politically motivated prosecutions were ``unfounded.''
Annan called the U.S. request unnecessary and said he hoped the vote didn't become an annual event. There are 558 Americans participating in the 15 current UN peacekeeping missions.
The issue is another source of friction between the U.S. and its European allies, following their disputes over the Iraq war, the U.S. rejection of treaties on arms control and the environment, and trade-related confrontations over steel and genetically modified food.
`Very Seriously'
``They're taking it very seriously,'' Heather Hamilton of the World Federalist Association, a Washington advocacy group, said of the countries threatened by the law. ``But at the same time they have their internal political considerations.''
Eastern European nations are concerned that their applications for EU membership may be judged on whether they grant the U.S. exemptions for the court.
Countries such as Colombia have lawmakers who consider U.S. opposition to the international court inconsistent with U.S. demands that their government respect the rule of law, she said.
The International Criminal Court was established by a treaty that 90 nations have ratified. Crimes against humanity in Yugoslavia, Rwanda and Cambodia gave impetus to its creation. The court consists of 18 judges elected for nine-year terms and teams of prosecutors and investigators.
Balancing Interests
Bush will probably announce tomorrow which countries will continue to receive U.S. military aid even though they failed to grant the U.S. exemptions from the tribunal, said the State Department official, who declined to be identified by name.
Bush ``will need to balance our broader bilateral interests with substantial consideration to the risks posed to U.S. citizens and service members by the potential for politically motivated charges,'' Boucher said.
The U.S. is using tactics to win Article 98 agreements beyond the threatened cut-off of military aid, according to the NGO Coalition for the International Criminal Court. They include promises of aid for projects such as a mine in Sierra Leone and airport upgrades in the Bahamas, the group said.
The State Department said the 44 countries that have signed Article 98 agreements with the U.S. are: Romania, Israel, East Timor, Tajikistan, Marshall Islands, Dominican Republic, Palau, Mauritania, Uzbekistan, Honduras, Afghanistan, Micronesia, Gambia, El Salvador, Sri Lanka, India, Nepal and Djibouti.
Also, Tuvalu, Bahrain, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Nauru, Rwanda, Democratic Republic of Congo, Tonga, Sierra Leone, Gabon, Ghana, Madagascar, Maldives, Albania, Bhutan, Philippines, Bosnia- Herzegovina, Bolivia, Thailand, Uganda, Nicaragua, Togo, Mauritius, Cambodia, Panama and Macedonia.
Last Updated: June 30, 2003 17:18 EDT
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