In response to this article… http://www.nytimes.com/2002/10/01/international/europe/01EURO.html

To the Editor:

Re: "Europeans to Exempt U.S. from War Court" (news article, Oct. 1):

The European Union’s decision to exempt American soldiers and government officials from prosecution for war crimes at the International Criminal Court is not a “compromise,” it is a capitulation. A court that grants immunity to a specific class of persons breaks one of the fundamental rules of democracy: that we are all equal before the law. To understand this point we need only look at Latin American countries such as Chile, where exiting dictatorial governments granted themselves immunity from prosecution. The specter of unanswered human rights abuses haunts these countries to this day.

How can we expect that the “Milosevics and Pinochets of tomorrow” (whom I desperately wish to see on trial) will submit to the judgment of an institution that has already given up part of its jurisdiction in order to placate one nation? An International Criminal Court that exempts anyone from prosecution based solely on nationality is neither “international” nor a “court”: it is a stage on which to act out an undemocratic farce of justice.

Adam Rosenblatt
posted by Adam at 11:19 AM [edit]