Annan victory as US drops war crimes exemption demand

Facing global opposition fuelled by the Iraqi prisoner abuse scandal, Washington has dropped a contentious UN resolution that sought to renew an exemption shielding US troops from international prosecution for war crimes.

The decision followed an intervention by UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, who urged Security Council members to oppose the resolution.

The US move raised concern that the Bush administration might carry out its threat to shut down or stop participating in UN-authorised peacekeeping operations.

US State Department spokesman Richard Boucher told reporters yesterday that a key factor in considering requests to provide troops for peacekeeping operations will be “what the risk might be of prosecution by a court to which we’re not party”.

While the US won praise for not pushing for a vote that would have deeply divided the UN Security Council, the Bush administration clearly suffered a defeat in its lengthy battle against the world’s first permanent war crimes tribunal.

William Pace, head of the Coalition for an International Criminal Court, which represents more than 1,000 organisations supporting the tribunal, called the US decision “a victory for international justice”.

The court is the culmination of a campaign for a permanent war crimes tribunal that began with the Nuremberg trials after the Second World War. It can prosecute cases of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity committed after it was established on July 1, 2002.

But it is a court of last resort and will step in only when countries are unwilling or unable to dispense justice themselves. The court’s chief prosecutor announced its first investigation yesterday – of war crimes in Congo.

Washington argues that the court – which started operating last year – could be used for frivolous or politically-motivated prosecutions of US troops.

The 94 countries that have ratified the 1998 Rome Treaty creating the court maintain it contains enough safeguards to prevent frivolous prosecutions and insist that nobody should be exempt.

When the court was formally established nearly two years ago, the US threatened to end its involvement in far-flung peacekeeping operations established or authorised by the UN if it did not get an exemption for its peacekeepers.

After lengthy negotiations, the Security Council agreed to a one-year exemption which was renewed a year ago.

Last month, the US circulated a resolution that would have authorised a new year-long exemption after the current one expires on June 30. But it put off a vote in order to work on a resolution endorsing the June 30 handover of power in Iraq, which was unanimously adopted on June 8.

Over the past five weeks, the scandal over the abuse of Iraqi detainees by US soldiers at Abu Ghraib prison has rarely been out of the headlines, and last week Secretary-General Kofi Annan made a rare intervention into council affairs.

He urged members to oppose the resolution, questioned the legality of an exemption and warned against dividing the council.

Several council members said the prisoner abuse and Mr Annan’s opposition were factors in their refusal to back the original resolution and a last-minute US compromise which would have made this one-year exemption the last one.

France, Germany, Spain, Brazil, Chile and China had said they would abstain on the original resolution, and Romania and Benin had indicated they were likely to join them.

When Spain and China – key nations the US needed to change their votes - announced before yesterday’s council meeting that they would not support the compromise, Washington knew the resolution would be defeated.

Spanish Ambassador Juan Antonio Yanez-Barnuevo welcomed the US decision to drop the resolution, and said Mr Annan’s statement “had a powerful effect”.

In a statement, Mr Annan said the US decision “will help maintain the unity of the Security Council at a time when it faces difficult challenges”.

However, Washington has signed bilateral agreements with 90 countries that bar any prosecution of US officials for alleged war crimes committed on their territory.

US Deputy Ambassador to the UN James Cunningham said Washington will “continue to negotiate bilateral agreements” to protect its citizens.