Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 31 March 2004
49 Mr. G. Mitchell asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if he has had contact with the US administration with regard to their difficulties in becoming signatories of the statutes that established the International Criminal Court; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10018/04]
View answerThe United States of America signed the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court in December 2000. However, in May 2002, the US informed the Secretary General of the United Nations that it did not intend to become party to the statute, and that it accordingly had no obligations arising from its signature. The objections of the US to the International Criminal Court are based on its view that, because of the independence of the prosecutor of the ICC, US citizens and in particular its military forces, could be subjected to politically motivated prosecutions before the court.
As I have stated previously, while I recognise these concerns I do not share them. The jurisdiction of the ICC is complementary to national jurisdictions, meaning that the court will become involved in a case only where a state with jurisdiction over a crime is unable or unwilling genuinely to carry out an investigation or prosecution. The Rome Statute contains strong and carefully drafted safeguards to prevent politically motivated prosecutions. I would also point to the integrity, character and professional qualifications of the persons who have been elected to serve as prosecutors and judges of the court.
This view is shared by our EU partners. In recent years, approaches have been made to the US on behalf of the EU, outlining the EU position on the court and urging US support for it. In addition, the EU Council Conclusions on the ICC of 30 September 2002 recall the shared objective of the EU and US of individual accountability for the most serious crimes of concern to the international community, and call for a broader dialogue between the EU and US on all matters relating to the ICC. I wish to reiterate my hope that, in time, the ICC will come to enjoy universal support, based on the common interest of all states in seeing that the most heinous crimes of international concern do not go unpunished.
