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American soldiers win war immunity

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American soldiers win war immunity
sabri
10/01/02 at 16:51:21
[slm]

By Ambrose Evans-Pritchard in Brussels
(Filed: 01/10/2002)


The European Union abandoned efforts to bolster the new war crimes tribunal yesterday, agreeing to let Britain and other member states offer American troops immunity from prosecution.

The compromise deal reached by EU foreign ministers prevents a damaging rift from blowing wide open in Brussels and eases the pressure in a festering dispute with the Bush administration.

It allows states to sign their own bilateral accord with Washington, provided they adhere to a set of "guiding principles". This means that any American serviceman would face prosecution in a court in the United States rather than at the International Court in The Hague.

The White House is concerned that American troops on peace-keeping missions could become targets of politicised prosecutions, a fear shared by many military officers in the European Union. Tony Blair and the Italian prime minister, Silvio Berlusconi have both tried to defuse the crisis, seeking a formula that meets Washington's key concerns.

But yesterday's compromise was immediately denounced by human rights organisations as a blow to the credibility of the International Court, which starts work next year prosecuting crimes against humanity.

Dick Oosting, director of Amnesty International's European office, said Brussels had set a terrible example to the rest of the world and described the EU guidelines as unenforceable.

"US pressure has paid off. The EU has allowed the US to shift the terms of the debate from legal principle to political opportunism. If the EU won't stand up for the International Criminal Court, then who will?" he asked.

The European Commission's own lawyers concluded in an internal memo that it would flout the tribunal's founding treaty to let any EU state grant immunity to American citizens, a position strongly backed by Germany, Sweden, and Belgium.

Joschka Fischer, Germany's foreign minister, put the best face on the agreement yesterday, abandoning his fierce resistance to any deal that would give the United States a special exemption.

"This is not about appeasing anybody," he said, but added caustically that Germany would not be offering any such exemption to US troops.

Under the guidelines, all EU citizens will still fall under the jurisdiction of the war crimes court, whether or not their countries have a bilateral immunity accord with Washington.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2002/10/01/wcrim01.xml&sSheet=/news/2002/10/01/ixnewstop.html

[wlm]


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