Blog of Mass Distraction

Thursday, June 24, 2004

Saudi Arabia is offering a one month amnesty for all terrorists to give themselves up. The recent beheading of a South Korean in Iraq, and previously, the killing of an American in Saudi Arabia, have highlited the continuing inability of the armed forces to prevent such attacks.
In Saudi Arabia, the US is telling all Americans to leave the country and it has previously said it will pull out troops from the country. The US is also lessening its presence in South Korea. There, however, the troops removed will be replaced by high-tech defense systems.
On another note, the US has dropped its attempt to extend amnesty from the ICC to US troops for another year. It previously had been able to persuade members of the Security Council to grant immunity to US troops from prosecution for war crimes. The recent "Abu Garef" [sic: from G.W. Bush] situation, however, has highlighted the reasons why Americans should NOT be immune to prosecution. Regardless, the US has secured agreements with 90 countries that state they will not turn over US citizens to the ICC if they are accused of war crimes.
I wonder if there's a list of those countries, and the details of these agreements...

Edit: 90 is the number of countries (I believe) to have ratified the Rome Statute. 80 countries, according to this document, have agreed to the Bilateral Immunity Agreements with the US. That document references the US State Department. 90 countries have ratified, but well over 100 have signed the Rome Statute; including the US (under the Clinton administration). But the US withdrew its signature and support under the Bush administration.

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