International Criminal Court
www.GlobalAware.org
WORLD INSTITUTIONS
12th March 2003 the International Criminal Court opens
its doors. 89 countries are on board, USA, Irak, Iran, Israel, Syria,
Sudan, Saudi Arabia, North Korea and China, amongst others are not.
As the ‘Coalition of the Willing, Bribed and Threatened,’
led by Bush and Blair, works to destroy the integrity of the United Nations
Security Council, we can take comfort that another international institution
has opened its doors, the International Criminal Court. Nearly 140 countries
signed the Rome Declaration for the establishment of the court and to
date, 89 countries have ratified it meaning that they accept the ICC’s
jurisdiction over their citizens. An analysis of who supports what is
edifying:
The two countries that signed the Rome Declaration but then withdrew from
the Court’s jurisdiction were the USA and Israel.
Israel is the other country currently in violation of UN Security Council
resolutions, the one no one is proposing to invade or ‘regime change’
for its wilful disregard of the Oslo Accord and Palestinian rights.
Among the countries that didn’t sign the Rome Declaration in the
first place are two of the three members of Bush’s Axis of Evil,
Iraq and North Korea; the third Axis member, Iran, signed but hasn’t
ratified.
Other non-signers include Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Mauritania
while non-ratifiers include Yemen, Syria, Liberia, Congo and Sudan.
The 9/11 hijackers were Saudi (as is Osama bin Laden) and Yemeni. Pakistani
radicals aided and abetted the Taliban regime which in turn harboured
bin Laden.
Mauritania and Sudan are the only two countries where chattel slavery
is still widely practiced.
When you remember that the Court’s mandate is to persecute crimes
against humanity and genocide, it becomes much clearer why some countries
have declared their acceptance of this international body while others
have sought to reject it. But knowing who’s who in the world of
World Institutions should warn us to beware of current efforts to make
the UN ‘irrelevant.’
Link to International
Criminal Court Info Website
© Dr. Leslie Jermyn leslie@globalaware.org
Permission is required from the Author to publish this text. |
