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ICC a New "Forum to Accuse the U.S. and Its Allies" for War in Iraq

THE HAGUE, Netherlands, May 18, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) - A Washington Times report Tuesday reveals that the French lawyer representing Saddam Hussein is planning to utilize the International Criminal Court (ICC) to sue the British government for war crimes perpetrated in Iraq. The Times describes this move as only one in a series of similar ploys to use the ICC as a forum to accuse the U.S. and its allies of so-called war-crimes committed in Iraq.

Senior policy analyst, Jack Spencer, from the Heritage Foundation's Davis Institute for International Studies, told the Times, "Essentially, those who don't like the war or U.S. foreign policy goals have a great new forum to accuse the United States and its allies of torturing and killing people as a matter of policy."

Saddam Hussein's lawyer, Jacques Verges, claimed, "The reality of torture and systematic abuses of the dignity of Iraqi prisoners, sometimes followed by murders, both by U.S. and British troops, is no longer in question," in the brief he filed with the court. The editor of the British tabloid that published pictures of Iraqi's being abused by British soldiers was fired Friday, because the photos published were deemed to be fake.

The U.S. never ratified a treaty to recognize the authority of the ICC, and is therefore not listed as a party in the Verges' filing. Experts argue that Verges' case is unlikely to go to trial; Luis Moreno-Ocampo of the ICC told the Times that the Court has received over 100 requests to scrutinize U.S. actions in Iraq in the last year, all of which have been rejected.

Although the mandate of the ICC is to investigate and prosecute criminals from countries who are unable or unwilling to do so themselves, Spencer told the Times that the suit brought by Verges is a sign of the fundamental weakness in the court's structure. "There is no way to protect governments such as the United States from the nuisance and distraction of politically motivated accusations," he said. "There are safeguards, but they are not sufficient and certainly not strong enough to merit giving up our own legal protections under the [U.S.] Constitution."

Read related coverage, "British tabloid editor fired over fake Iraq prisoner abuse pictures," at: http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/afp_world/view/85017/1/.html

Read the LifeSiteNews.com Special Reports, "Bush Issues Formal Rejection of the International Criminal Court," at: http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2002/may/020506a.html

"International Criminal Court Undermines Canadian Rights," at: http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2000/sep/000914a.html

Read Richard G. Wilkins essay, "Ramifications of The International Criminal Court for War, Peace And Social Change," (pdf) at: http://www.lifesite.net/waronfamily/UN/ICC_Ramifications.pdf

Read the Washington Times coverage:
http://www.washtimes.com/world/20040518-120208-3529r.htm

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