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The U.S. Relationship with the I.C.C. In December 2000, President Clinton signed the Rome Statute treaty and expressed the importance of continued engagement with the ICC. He believed that cooperation with the Court was essential. President Bush adopted a stringent policy of isolation and opposition against the Court. In 2002, President Bush authorized then-Under Secretary of State John Bolton to “unsign” the treaty by informing the United Nations that the U.S. did not intend to ratify the Rome Statute, relieving the U.S. of its obligations not to undermine the treaty. In her first address to the United Nations Security Council, Ambassador Susan E. Rice underscores the importance of a vibrant relationship between the U.S. and the ICC, signaling a shift in U.S. policy: President Obama is committed to building strong international partnerships to tackle global challenges…The International Criminal Court, which has started its first trial this week, looks to become an important and credible instrument for trying to hold accountable the senior leadership responsible for atrocities committed in the Congo, Uganda, and Darfur. In January 2009, the International Criminal Court (ICC) began its first trial. Thomas Lubanga, former rebel leader of the Democratic Republic of the Congo is accused of recruiting and training child soldiers for combat. The Court has issued an arrest warrant for the current president of Sudan, Omar Al-Bashir. The warrant accuses the president of committing war crimes and crimes against humanity in Darfur, by ordering armed troops as well as janjaweed militia to engage in a systematic campaign of killing, rape and hunger against members of the Fur, Masalit and Zaghawa groups. |
