On the eve of President Bush's state visit to Britain, the wife of Prime Minister Tony Blair strongly criticized the administration's campaign against the International Criminal Court, saying its concerns are "not well founded."
Cherie Booth, a leading human rights lawyer, levied the criticism yesterday during a panel discussion on human rights and international law at Georgetown University. Most of her remarks were an academic and historical overview of the development of international law, but she devoted a substantial portion to countering Bush's arguments for rejecting the court.
The administration, which removed the United States from the treaty establishing the court signed by President Bill Clinton, has argued that with peacekeeping missions around the world, U.S. military personnel would be subject to whims of an "unaccountable prosecutor and its unchecked judicial power." The administration has not only rejected the court, designed to deal with war crimes and genocide, but pressured countries to sign bilateral agreements that would exempt the United States from the court's jurisdiction. Seventy countries have signed such agreements, though few are in Europe.
One hundred thirty-two countries have signed the treaty creating the court, and 92 have ratified it. Judges and a prosecutor have been selected, and Booth said its first case is likely to concern Congo.
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http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A54133-2003Nov17.html
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