Court Jesters: Remember the International Criminal Court? House Republicans sure do
Mark Goldberg
The American Prospect
September 1, 2004

In this article, Mark Goldberg discussed US policy towards the ICC. The article focuses mainly on the Nethercutt Amendment, which, if passed, "would withhold economic assistance to America's NATO partners, as well as to some major non-NATO allies such as Jordan, South Africa, and Japan, until these countries sign what are known as 'bilateral immunity agreements' (BIAs) that exempt U.S. nationals and foreign contractors from the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court (ICC)."

Goldberg goes on to argue that this amendment might be the US Congress' "most aggressive attempt to limit the court."

Goldberg gives the reason for US actions regarding the Nethercutt Amendment as follows: "Many of the 201 House Republicans and 40 Democrats who voted for the Nethercutt Amendment are not staunch ideologues of the DeLay, Nethercutt, and Bolton variety. Rather, as one Democratic Hill staffer explained, 'Most of the members who voted for this amendment weren't rabid ICC haters. They just bought into Nethercutt and DeLay's blatantly distorting rhetoric about the court.'"

Goldberg outlines the larger implications of the amendment: "According to Citizens for Global Solutions, a Washington-based nonprofit that closely monitors the ICC, the Nethercutt Amendment would also jeopardize regional initiatives to combat drug trafficking and international organized crime, as it would slice $8 million from a coordinated effort to reduce cocoa production and drug trafficking in Peru; $9 million from the State Department’s “third border initiative,” which helps Caribbean countries combat drugs, arms, and human trafficking; and $1 million used to help South Africa combat counterfeiting and financial crimes."


This article is available on The American Prospect website www.prospect.org

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