Double Standard
From
startribune.com, Minneapolis Star Tribune,
April 2, 2005
U.S. OKs sending
Sudanese to world court
•
The latest: The United States is still firmly opposed to the International Criminal
Court despite the Bush administration's acquiescence to ICC prosecution of war crime
suspects in Sudan, the State Department said Friday….
•
'Extraordinary circumstances': Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice suggested that a
show of U.S. flexibility in the deliberations was necessary because of the
"extraordinary circumstance" posed by the continuing humanitarian nightmare in
Sudan.
"There
are clearly crimes against humanity being committed in Sudan, and there are people who
have to be held accountable for those crimes," Rice said.
Given
the high priority the United States has given to holding Sudanese war criminals
accountable, a veto would have caused embarrassment to the administration….
•
Bush's opposition: During the election campaign last year, President Bush defended
U.S. opposition to the ICC. If the United States were to join, he said,
"unaccountable judges and prosecutors" could target U.S. military personnel and
diplomats.
"I
am against the international court," Bush said….
Reported by
Associated Press