- (Bloomberg) -- China plans to reject continued immunity
of U.S. citizens from prosecution by the International Criminal Court,
because of the abuse of Iraqi prisoners, according to the country's United
Nations envoy. The stance may align a majority of the Security Council
against the protection.
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- Chinese Ambassador Wang Guangya, 54, said in an interview
today his government would abstain from any vote on the measure, joining
Benin, Brazil, Chile, France, Germany and Spain, and leaving the U.S. short
of the nine votes needed for approval in the 15-member, decision-making
body.
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- "The atmosphere this year is not good because of
this scandal over prison abuse," Wang said, referring to instances
of mistreatment by U.S. soldiers in Iraq. "This will send a message
that this behavior is not acceptable. My guess is that the council is split
half and half, so they don't have enough votes to support this."
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- The Security Council voted in 2002 to protect U.S. soldiers
and personnel from other nations that haven't ratified the creation of
the court through a treaty, and last June renewed the immunity for a year.
The U.S. is concerned the treaty doesn't include safeguards against politically
motivated war crimes prosecutions, including possible action against U.S.
troops in Iraq.
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- Council members who oppose a U.S. draft resolution extending
the immunity for another year have been waiting for China, which has twice
voted for the protection, to signal its intention. Defeat of the U.S. resolution
might imperil future votes on UN peacekeeping missions, such as the proposed
deployment of troops to Sudan.
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- Veto
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- Two years ago, the U.S. vetoed a Security Council resolution
to continue the UN mission to Bosnia-Herzegovina on concern that American
personnel could be vulnerable to prosecution by the court. Immunity was
granted the next month and the mission was renewed.
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- Stuart Holliday, a diplomat with the U.S. mission at
the UN, said the U.S. was consulting Security Council members and would
announce a decision Tuesday on whether the resolution would be put to a
vote. More than 40 nations have requested a Security Council meeting on
the issue open to all 191 UN members, and that session is tentatively set
for Thursday.
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- Envoys from council members Algeria and Romania said
they also might abstain from the resolution. U.K. Ambassador Emyr Jones
Parry, who supports the measure, described the situation as "total
confusion."
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- China's declaration follows a statement yesterday against
the U.S. position by UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, who has said in the
past he believes the treaty that created the International Criminal Court
has sufficient safeguards against political prosecutions.
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- 'Unwise'
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- "It would be unfortunate for one to press for such
an exemption, given the prisoner abuse in Iraq," Annan told reporters
yesterday. "It would be even more unwise on the part of the Security
Council to grant it. It would discredit the Council and the United Nations
that stands for rule of law and the primacy of rule of law."
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- The treaty creating the court was adopted at an international
conference in Rome on July 17, 1998. The U.S., Iraq, China and Israel were
among the seven nations that voted against the treaty, which was supported
by 120 countries and has since been ratified by 90. China hasn't ratified
it.
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- Crimes against humanity in Yugoslavia, Rwanda and Cambodia
gave impetus to creation of the Hague court, whose jurisdiction took effect
on July 1, 2002. It consists of 18 judges elected for nine-year terms and
chief prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo.
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- U.S. soldiers stand accused of abusing prisoners in Iraq
and Afghanistan, incidents that have swung votes against the Security Council
resolution, diplomats said.
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- Officials of human rights groups such as Amnesty International
and Human Rights Watch pressed council members not to vote for the U.S.
resolution, saying it violates international law by amending the treaty.
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