UNITED NATIONS, Sept 1: The governing body of the International Criminal Court (ICC) meets here for the first time on Tuesday, while the United States continues its efforts to put its citizens beyond the court’s reach.

“This a genuinely historic meeting,” said Richard Dicker, a lawyer for Human Rights Watch, noting that the ICC is “the first permanent court to try crimes that have horrified the world” — genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity.

But the administration of US President George W. Bush disqualified itself from attending the Assembly of States Parties when it took the extraordinary — if not unprecedented — step of withdrawing its country’s signature from the ICC’s founding treaty on May 6. The US claims that its citizens would be at greater risk than those of other countries of politically motivated prosecution, even though many — including UN Secretary General Kofi Annan — have tried to assure Washington that its fears are unrealistic.

The Assembly groups the 78 states that have ratified the 1999 Rome Statute; another 60 which have signed but not yet ratified may send observers.

Diplomats forecast that the most contentious item on the Assembly’s formal agenda will be to determine the procedures for electing the court’s 18 judges and its prosecutor. Balloting will not take place until February next year.

Article 36 of the statute says the choice of court officials must reflect the world’s leading legal systems and strike a fair balance between its geographical regions as well as between the sexes.

One difficulty is how to attain that goal without either diplomatic horse-trading or a quota system which critics say favour mediocrity.

Another problem, illustrated by the Yugoslav warcrimes court in The Hague, will be to find “judges with actual criminal trial experience,” he said.

Noting that warcrimes “are overwhelmingly committed against civilians, and against women more than men,” Dicker added that “it would be seen as a real failure to have only one or two women on a bench of 18 judges.”

The Assembly is also due to approve the 35-million-dollar budget for the court’s first 16 months — to be financed by the ratifying states — and to endorse the definitions recommended by experts of the crimes the court will try. —AFP