The US and the International Criminal Court

So little time, so much to blog. I'll start with this item from Sterling's blog at the Infinite Matrix: The United States and the International Criminal Court.

[The] Bush administration is requesting states around the world to approve bilateral agreements requiring them not to surrender American nationals to the ICC. The goal of these agreements ("impunity agreements" or so-called "Article 98 agreements") is to exempt U.S. nationals from ICC jurisdiction. They also lead to a two-tiered rule of law for the most serious international crimes: one that applies to U.S. nationals; another that applies to the rest of the world's citizens.

If you're convinced that you have a monopoly on justice, this attitude makes sense; nobody but Americans could give a fair trial to Americans. (Relatedly, I get the impression there's a general belief that only Americans can give a fair trial (or equivalent, such as locking them up at Guantanamo Bay indefinitely) to non-Americans, suggesting that the underlying belief is that only Americans can give a fair trial.) But I remain unconvinced.

There's a good myths and facts page answering several common objections. The FAQ makes explicit that Kissinger can't be tried (because the ICC's "jurisdiction began on July 1, 2002 when the ICC Treaty entered into force"); I'm tempted to editorialize "More's the pity," but I don't know enough about Kissinger's alleged crimes to have a reasonable opinion on whether he should be tried.

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