International Criminal Court

UNITED NATIONS - The world's first permanent international court to try individuals charged with genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity may become a reality within the next few weeks, much sooner than expected, legal experts said yesterday. "We're creeping very close to the 60 ratifications needed," U.N. spokesman Fred Eckhard told reporters yesterday. The leader of the nongovernmental Coalition for the International Criminal Court, William Pace, said in an interview that the remaining ratifications - four more are needed - could take place during the opening days of a meeting to discuss the court's budget and other matters, beginning April 8. Some officials say the finish line could be crossed earlier.

Very few things unite Democratic and Republican senators in Washington. But unfortunately, one thing that does is attacking the human rights of Palestinians. And now they're are at it again. This time in the form of an anti-Palestinian amendment sponsored by Sens. Charles Schumer, Robert Menendez, John Barrasso and Lindsey Graham that would punish the government of Palestine for seeking United Nations recognition and heavily sanction it if it petitions the International Criminal Court for Justice.

WASHINGTON -- It wasn't supposed to turn out like this.The United States, which led the way in creating tribunals to try the perpetrators of atrocities in Bosnia and Rwanda, which set up a special office in the State Department on war crimes, and which for years supported the idea of a permanent international criminal court, now finds itself in the position of being among seven nations, including Libya and China, opposing its creation.With global jurisdiction, the court would be able to try individuals for the most serious violations: war crimes, genocide, crimes against humanity and aggression.

EL FASHER, Sudan -- For a man accused of masterminding massacres, Ahmad Harun seems quite comfortable in the place he is suspected of helping to destroy. He strolls around the grassy compound belonging to the local governor in Sudan's deeply troubled Darfur region, embracing Arab tribal leaders, soldiers and officials who have come to hear the president. Harun, 42, was in charge of the region's security during the height of the attacks on farm villages that sent millions fleeing their homes in 2003 and 2004.

FRANCE, long the home of wily diplomats, has come up with a face-saving way for the United States to make good on its intentions to end the ethnic genocide of tribal villagers in war-torn Darfur. Under a French proposal, the United States could allow the International Criminal Court to prosecute those responsible for war crimes in the western region of Sudan without setting a precedent that might someday be used against Americans. In return, the United States could press for Russian and Chinese support of a "no-fly" zone to prevent aerial attacks against Darfur and for stiff sanctions against the Islamist government of Sudan, which encouraged the assault by Janjaweed militiamen.

Very few things unite Democratic and Republican senators in Washington. But unfortunately, one thing that does is attacking the human rights of Palestinians. And now they're are at it again. This time in the form of an anti-Palestinian amendment sponsored by Sens. Charles Schumer, Robert Menendez, John Barrasso and Lindsey Graham that would punish the government of Palestine for seeking United Nations recognition and heavily sanction it if it petitions the International Criminal Court for Justice.

BRUSSELS, Belgium - The 15 nations of the European Union agreed yesterday to exempt U.S. soldiers and government officials from prosecution for war crimes at the International Criminal Court, an issue that had troubled trans-Atlantic relations for several months. The compromise reached at a meeting of EU foreign ministers came close to the blanket immunity for U.S. government employees sought by the Bush administration, although European officials emphasized that, in their view, it did not undermine the court, which the administration has opposed.

HOLDING Gen. Augusto Pinochet accountable for atrocities on his watch from 1973 to 1990 is now a political crisis for Chile, not Britain. That explains the cryptic decision of the British home secretary, Jack Straw, to ship him home after 17 months of arrest in Britain, as mentally unfit to stand trial. The 84-year-old former strong man is back where the populace is divided over his legacy, where some 60 lawsuits are filed against him, where President Eduardo Frei says the Chilean courts must have their say and where the still-powerful army is determined to protect its old commander.

WASHINGTON - The Bush administration has decided to renounce formally any involvement in a treaty creating an international criminal court and is expected to declare that the signing of the document by the Clinton administration is no longer valid, government officials said yesterday. The "unsigning" of the treaty, which is expected to be announced tomorrow, will be a decisive rejection by the Bush White House of the concept of a permanent tribunal designed to prosecute people in genocide, crimes against humanity and other war crimes.

UNITED NATIONS - The world's first permanent criminal court for the prosecution of dictators and war criminals became a reality yesterday despite strong U.S. opposition. "The long-held dream of the International Criminal Court will now be realized," Secretary-General Kofi Annan said. "Impunity has been dealt a decisive blow." The court closes a gap in international law by holding people, not nations or armies, responsible for the most horrific crimes, Annan said. He was speaking at a news conference in Rome, where more than 100 countries met in 1998 to propose the establishment of the tribunal.

UNITED NATIONS -- The chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court told the U.N. Security Council yesterday that Sudan has shown no signs that it will hand over a senior official and a militia leader charged with war crimes, and he asked the council to increase pressure on the regime. Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo's first report to the council since the court issued the arrest warrants last month underscored the court's delicate position: It must rely on the same government that backs the attacks on civilians in the Darfur region to ensure that Sudanese suspects face international justice.

UNITED NATIONS -- A high-ranking Sudanese government official colluded with militias to commit atrocities against civilians in the Darfur region, the International Criminal Court's prosecutor said yesterday. Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo presented results of a 21-month investigation that he said shows "reasonable evidence" that Ahmad Muhammad Harun, then Sudan's minister of state for the interior, and imprisoned militia leader Ali Kushayb "bear criminal responsibility" for mass executions, rapes and the forcible removal of thousands of people from their homes.

FRANCE, long the home of wily diplomats, has come up with a face-saving way for the United States to make good on its intentions to end the ethnic genocide of tribal villagers in war-torn Darfur. Under a French proposal, the United States could allow the International Criminal Court to prosecute those responsible for war crimes in the western region of Sudan without setting a precedent that might someday be used against Americans. In return, the United States could press for Russian and Chinese support of a "no-fly" zone to prevent aerial attacks against Darfur and for stiff sanctions against the Islamist government of Sudan, which encouraged the assault by Janjaweed militiamen.

MORE THAN 300,000 people have died in the Darfur region of Sudan from starvation, disease and violence during the past two years. How many more deaths will be tolerated before the international community will act? The United Nations' latest report on Darfur calls for the arrest and prosecution, by the International Criminal Court, of Sudanese government officials and Arab militias responsible for the killings, rapes and deportations of ethnic black African villagers. In response, Secretary-General Kofi Annan has called for Security Council sanctions.

The World Insurgents across Iraq set off car bombs and seized police stations killing more than 100 people, including three U.S. soldiers, in an offensive aimed at creating chaos before the hand-over of power. Four U.S. Marines were gunned down in an ambush west of Baghdad. Two U.S. Marines were killed and another wounded during an operation in an Afghan province on the border with Pakistan. Kim Sun Il, a 33-year-old South Korean working as a translator in Iraq, was beheaded by his captors, who demanded the withdrawal of South Korean troops.

BRUSSELS, Belgium - The 15 nations of the European Union agreed yesterday to exempt U.S. soldiers and government officials from prosecution for war crimes at the International Criminal Court, an issue that had troubled trans-Atlantic relations for several months. The compromise reached at a meeting of EU foreign ministers came close to the blanket immunity for U.S. government employees sought by the Bush administration, although European officials emphasized that, in their view, it did not undermine the court, which the administration has opposed.

MEMBERS of the United Nations are assembled in Rome, where they hope to accomplish the historic task of establishing a functional, independent international criminal court.The decision to establish such a court may be one of the most significant steps taken by the United Nations for the protection of human rights since the adoption half a century ago of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.The international criminal justice system needs to be reinforced. Fifty years after the Nuremberg trials, genocide, mass executions of political opponents, ethnic cleansing and other crimes against humanity are still employed in many parts of the world.

UNITED NATIONS -- The chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court told the U.N. Security Council yesterday that Sudan has shown no signs that it will hand over a senior official and a militia leader charged with war crimes, and he asked the council to increase pressure on the regime. Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo's first report to the council since the court issued the arrest warrants last month underscored the court's delicate position: It must rely on the same government that backs the attacks on civilians in the Darfur region to ensure that Sudanese suspects face international justice.

WASHINGTON - Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld warned yesterday that the United States might not send its forces to join future peacekeeping missions without a grant of full immunity from the jurisdiction of the new International Criminal Court. Rumsfeld aggressively defended the administration's demand that U.S. troops and government officials be exempt from the court, two days after the United States vetoed a Security Council resolution extending the U.N. peacekeeping mandate in Bosnia.

LONDON - Britain, America's staunchest ally in Europe, joined in the widespread expressions of disappointment yesterday over the U.S. repudiation of the new International Criminal Court but said it would use its close trans-Atlantic ties to try to change Washington's attitude. "What we are involved in is a very detailed and active conversation with the U.S., trying to allay their fears," said Foreign Secretary Jack Straw. "We do not share their view about this." The object of the Europeans' concern was the U.S. veto Sunday of a Security Council resolution extending the United Nations peacekeeping mission in Bosnia.