International Criminal Court: US Softening Its Line

The International Criminal Court (ICC), world’s first permanent war-crimes tribunal, is proving more robust than expected; even skeptical America is softening its line, says The Economist.

The ICC (not to be confused with the World Court, also in The Hague), aged only four-and-a-half, “is proving a lustier infant than many predicted. Its prosecutors have delved deeply into horrible wars in Congo, Sudan and Uganda. The court’s first trial — of Thomas Lubanga, a Congolese warlord, accused of using children as soldiers — is due to start later this year.

“The first indictments for the mass killings in Sudan’s Darfur region are expected next month. Five leaders of Uganda’s rebel Lord’s Resistance Army have already been indicted. One has since been killed, but the other four face trial when caught. An investigation into atrocities in a fourth, as yet unnamed, country is due to be announced soon.

“As the court’s reputation grows, so does the number of countries that have signed up—104 at the last count. They include all the main European states. Japan, which will become its biggest donor by far, is expected to join later this year. But the real change in the court’s fortunes stems from a gradual shift in America’s attitude: it has moved from outright hostility to some cautious signals that, in some parts of the world, it sees the ICC as useful…

“John Bellinger, chief legal adviser to Condoleezza Rice in the State Department, has been the driving force behind the change of attitude. He thinks the campaign against the court undermines broader American aims, such as ending impunity for the worst crimes. ‘Divisiveness over the ICC distracts from our ability to pursue these common goals,’ he has said. ‘We do acknowledge that it has a role to play.’

“Ms Rice has herself urged a softer line, saying America was ‘shooting [itself] in the foot’ by imposing sanctions on those unwilling to sign bilateral immunity deals. Many such states were old American allies who reacted by moving closer to China.

“The first sign of a shift came with America’s surprise decision not to veto the Security Council’s referral of Darfur to the court in March 2005. When Serge Brammertz, the ICC’s deputy chief prosecutor, was appointed to head the UN’s inquiry into the murder of Rafik Hariri, Lebanon’s former prime minister, nine months later, not a grumble was heard from America.

“Nor did it object when the Security Council voted last summer to transfer Charles Taylor, a former Liberian president, to the ICC’s premises in The Hague for trial. And America’s ambassador to Uganda has been urging support for the ICC’s prosecution of the Lord’s Resistance Army rebels, despite criticism from local community leaders who claim that the threat of arrest is impeding the peace process.

“On their own, these signals may not amount to much. But together they suggest at least the beginnings of a change of heart. Mixed messages are still coming out of Washington; but the vitriol has gone.

“Even though polls suggest that two out of three Americans favour joining the ICC, America is unlikely to sign up any time soon. The court has been so demonised by the Bush administration (and before that, so quibbled at by the Clinton White House) that it would take years to convince Congress to accept it.

“But court officials are privately making a bold prediction: one day, America will swallow all its doubts and join.”