ROME, July (LSN) The rhetoric is increasing as nations wanting a strong International Criminal Court begin to panic over the possibility that the initiative might fail. Italy’s Foreign Minister Lamberto Dini went so far as to claim that this “will be the last chance we ever have!” and that “the world would never forgive us” is they did not produce concrete results. UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan has even sent a personal letter to each of the 16 countries deemed a threat to the Court.
A UN press release acknowledges that the three primary areas of controversy are the role of the Security Council and how much control it should have over the court, the financing of the court, and “language on the issue of sexual violence.”
This is one of the rare times in recent years at a UN conference where Canada and the US are not tag-teaming to advance a radical agenda on the international stage. Instead, the US finds itself on the same side of the ICC controversy as some of its enemies such as Iran, Syria and Burma as well as nations like Russia, China and India. America, however, is maintaining its opposition to an institution that it knows runs the risk of becoming an ideological weapon against western civilization.
With or without US support,ICC supporters hope to generate enough votes to approve the proposal of an independent court with universal jurisdiction. The universal jurisdiction clause would authorize the ICC to pursue action against nations that did not sign onto the treaty. According to some reports, however, the US has threatened to withdraw some of its troops from foreign soil if the universal jurisdiction component is approved. Your calls, faxes and emails to Lloyd Axworthy’s office are very important during these last intense days of debate (make sure to send a copy of your correspondence to your own MP as well): Lloyd Axworthy’s contact information: Phone: (613) 995-0153 Fax: (613) 996-3443 Email: [email protected]