July 11, 2002	Thursday	Rabi-us-Sani 29, 1423

UNITED NATIONS, July 10: The United States found itself isolated Wednesday as fellow members of the United Nations rose one by one to decry its decision to abandon the International Criminal Court over fears its troops could be prosecuted.

Canada’s ambassador to the world body, Paul Heinbecker, was first to speak, having requested the special session of the Security Council, at which representatives from 18 other nations were present, with more than 30 signed up to speak.

He warned against any compromise that would place US peacekeepers outside the realm of prosecution by the court, as it “could place Canada in the unprecedented position of having to examine the legality of a Security Council resolution.”

The United States has threatened to oppose the renewal of UN peacekeeping operations unless UN personnel, including the so-called “blue helmet” soldiers, are exempted from prosecution.

It has proposed a resolution, based on Article 16 of the court’s founding statute, to effectively block any action by the court unless it is approved by the 15-member council.

But the US “misunderstanding and unfounded fears” of the court’s statutes and purpose are threatening the very existence and “achievements” of peacekeeping missions, said South Africa’s ambassador Dumisani Kumalo, underscoring the importance of such missions to the African continent.

Four of the 15 current deployments of blue-helmeted peacekeepers are in Africa, in the Democratic Republic of Congo; Ethiopia/Eritrea; Sierra Leone; and Western Sahara.

“As the Council is aware, most conflicts are presently in Africa and if this resolution was passed, this would set back peace in our continent a long time,” Kumalo said.

Former US president Bill Clinton was one of 139 heads of state to sign the treaty that created, as of July 1, the permanent war crimes court to try defendants whose home countries do not have satisfactory judicial infrastructure.

But while US ambassador to the UN John Negroponte reaffirmed the importance Washington attaches to peace and security worldwide, he stressed that the “legal position of peacekeepers and the states contributing to them has been an issue throughout the history of peacekeeping.”

This has been “an important consideration for the governments that must decide whether... to help out in unexpected crises or emergency situations, as the United States is frequently asked to do.”

The United States has committed a total 704 troops to the 15 current UN peacekeeping missions, most of whom are attached to the police-training operations in Bosnia, according to UN statistics. But it funds some 25 percent of the 2.77 billion-dollar peacekeeping budget and has threatened to withdraw some or all of the money over the ICC.

Negroponte late last month vetoed the renewal of the mission known as UNMIBH as a protest of the ICC, which is to begin its work in The Hague by next year, but two extensions have been granted as the council works to resolve the dispute.

“We respect the obligations of those states that have ratified the Rome Statute,” a total of 76 nations, he said Wednesday. “We hope that other states, in turn, will respect our concern about our peacekeepers.”

In addition to the African and Bosnian missions, a total 45,145 UN peacekeepers are active in: East Timor; India/Pakistan (Kashmir); Cyprus, Georgia; Kosovo; Prevlaka Peninsula (Croatia/Yugoslavia); Golan Heights (Israel); Iraq/Kuwait; Lebanon; as well as a general Middle East force.

Those missions, said French ambassador Jean-David Levitte, are “irreplaceable.”

“Don’t take them hostage,” he implored. “Think of all those people, for whom they represent the only hope for peace and progress.”—AFP