USA's Impunity Campaign Reaches a New Nadir

[Ivo Skoric]

Croatia and Serbia do not need US military aid. Last time they 
were receiving it, they used it to kill each other. They'd be better off 
without it. And they'd save tons of money that they can use for 
building badly needed civilian infrastructure. I think that the 
countries subject to the suspension of military aid should celebrate 
their luck. Particularly because they earned it by standing for the 
rule of law and against the world's global bully.
ivo

Date sent:      	Thu, 03 Jul 2003 10:29:35 -0400
To:             	CERJ at igc.org
From:           	CERJ at igc.org
Subject:        	USA's Impunity Campaign Reaches a New Nadir

So this is what 'free world' means ...?

The USA's Impunity Campaign, as Amnesty International has referred to it, consists of underhanded efforts to see that USA citizens are granted immunity from prosecution under the Rome Treaty by the International Criminal Court.  As part of this campaign, the USA extorts from its 'client states' 
(much of the 'free world') the promise never to refer US citizens for prosecution for war crimes such as genocide.  This promise is always unilateral -- the USA does not promise its client states the same thing.  Thus in international affairs, just as it is (in practice) in the USA, the 'cop' is 
exempted from prosecution for crimes (unless he 'bites the hand that feeds him', of course).

Here we see the USA now withholding aid -- selectively, according to faux-presidential Shrubbian whims -- from countries that refuse to sign its impunity agreements.

It's hard to believe that the USA was a full signatory to the Rome Treaty (Clinton signed it) less than 18 months ago.  More than enough evidence to demonstrate that of all other countries in recent world history, the 'new USA' under the Bushite PNACzis is heir to the German Nazi regime of the 
1930s and 1940s -- which, by the way, the Bush family did more than its share to support at the time (including profiting from concentration camp slave labor). -- John Wilmerding

Full story here: http://asia.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=3020306

U.S. Suspends Military Aid to Nearly 50 Countries 
Tuesday, July 1, 2003 11:22 AM ET 

Washington -- (Reuters) -- The United States on Tuesday suspended military assistance to nearly 50 countries, including Colombia and six nations seeking NATO membership, because they have supported the International Criminal Court and failed to exempt Americans from possible prosecution.  As the 
deadline passed for governments to sign exemption agreements or face the suspension of military aid, President Bush issued waivers for 22 countries.

But the 22 countries did not include Colombia, Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Slovakia and Slovenia.

Colombia, where the government is fighting leftist guerrillas and drug traffickers, has been one of the largest recipients of U.S. military aid in the world.

A U.S. official said that if countries had ratified the treaty setting up the international court and had not received a waiver, the ban on military aid would apply.

But the threat, enshrined in the American Service Members Protection Act of 2002, does not apply to the 19 NATO members and to nine "major non-NATO allies."

Based on the information initially available to Reuters, the countries 
subject to the suspension of military aid are:  

Andorra, Antigua and Barbuda, Austria, Barbados, Belize, Benin, Brazil, Bulgaria, Cambodia, Central African Republic, Colombia, Costa Rica, Croatia, Cyprus, Dominica, Ecuador, Estonia, Fiji, Finland, Ireland, Latvia, Lesotho, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Malawi, Mali, Malta, Marshall Islands, 
Namibia, Nauru, Niger, Paraguay, Peru, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Samoa, San Marino, Serbia and Montenegro, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, Sweden, Switzerland, Tanzania, Trinidad and Tobago, Uruguay, Venezuela and Zambia.

The countries which received presidential waivers are:

Albania, Afghanistan, Bolivia, Bosnia, Botswana, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Djibouti, East Timor, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Honduras, Macedonia, Mauritius, Mongolia, Nigeria, Panama, Romania, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Tajikistan and Uganda.

==================================
CERJ at igc.org            wilmerding at earthlink.net
-------------------------------------------
John Wilmerding, Convener and List Manager
Coalition for Equity-Restorative Justice (CERJ)
1 Chestnut Hill, Brattleboro, VT, ZIP: 05301-6073
Phone: 1-802-254-2826 | 1-802-380-0664 (cellular)
CERJ was founded in New York in May, 1997.
-------------------------------------------
"Work together to reinvent justice using methods
that are fair; that conserve, restore, and even
create harmony, equity and good will in society."
-------------------------------------------
To join (or leave) the CERJ email list, kindly send
me an email message at wilmerding at earthlink.net
or at cerj at igc.org.  I'll need your first & last name,
your email address, and your state, province or 
country of residence.  Thank you!  -- John W.
==================================