US Under Fire at Security Council over Court Immunity Demand

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Thursday, July 11, 2002

US Under Fire at Security Council over Court Immunity Demand

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The United States on Wednesday faced increasing isolation, even from its European allies, as the U.N. Security Council is holding a public debate onthe US efforts to get immunity for its peacekeepers from the world's first permanent criminal tribunal.

Arguing that peacekeepers are not above the law, Canada called the council debate, at which nation after nation voiced its opposition to the U.S. demand that its soldiers be immune from prosecution of the International Criminal Court (ICC), which came into being on July 1.

The Canadian ambassador to the United Nations, Paul Heinbecker,started the session with a warning that the credibility of the council, the legality of international treaties, and the principlethat all people are equal and accountable before the law were at stake.

Speaking on behalf of the court's supporters, he said US concerns can be addressed "in ways that do not compromise the court or international law, or place the U.N. Security Council in the untenable position of permitting the possibility of impunity for genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes."

Meanwhile, French Ambassador Jean-David Levitte said, "But evenif the council goes this way, it raises serious questions." He said that the 16 UN peacekeeping missions around the world could not be replaced and "we must not take them hostage."

However, Heinbecker said even a 12-month exemption for the reasons the United States raised was illegal. "The negotiating history makes clear that recourse to Article 16 is on case-by-casebasis only, where a particular situation -- for example the dynamic of a peace negotiation -- would warrant a 12-month deferral," he said.

At issue is Washington's threat to end peacekeeping in Bosnia if all civilian and military personnel, even those not under direct U.N. jurisdiction, are not exempt from prosecution by the ICC.

The court, the first global permanent tribunal to try individuals for genocide, war crimes and systematic, gross human rights abuses, is a belated effort to fulfill the promise of the Nuremberg trials 56 years ago, when Nazi leaders were prosecuted for new categories of war crimes.

No vote is planned for Wednesday. However, the 15-member council has to make a decision by Monday and thereby set a precedent for a host of other peacekeeping missions. The open meeting, which begins about 10:30 a.m. local time (1430 GMT), includes some two dozen nations which hope to convince council members the United States position is short-sighted.

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