Sunday, January 30, 2005

US Wants Darfur War Crimes Tried Outside of ICC

Ambassador Pierre-Richard Prosper said the U.S. doesn't want to refer cases to the International Criminal Court, which is being formed in The Hague and is investigating allegations of crimes in Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The U.S., which hasn't ratified the 1998 treaty that created the court, believes it doesn't have adequate safeguards to protect Americans from politically motivated prosecutions.
The U.S. effort to create a new court modeled after tribunals in Rwanda and Yugoslavia will be a ``tough sell,'' according to Ambassador Lauro Baja of the Philippines, a Security Council member. Envoys from council members Algeria, Argentina, Greece and Russia said they thought the ICC should handle any cases involving the humanitarian crisis in Darfur.

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