US undermines ICC - and peacekeeping

The US wants blanket immunity for its troops

As the new International Criminal Court comes into being today, it is hailed as the "most important human rights institution in 50 years" by Human Rights Watch.

More than 70 countries have ratified its founding treaty - including Britain. But the United States wants nothing to do with it.

It has effectively removed its signature, because of fears that American troops would have no immunity from prosecution while carrying out peacekeeping missions, such as that in the Balkans.

Because of those concerns, the US yesterday vetoed the renewal of the United Nations mandate for peacekeeping in Bosnia, which has to be renewed every six months. Its prompted frantic diplomatic efforts today to try to avert a US pullout. The deadline is this coming Thursday.

The British government is fully supporting the ICC. The Prime Minister's spokesman said the American concerns were understood, but he insisted that safeguards had been built into the new institution which would prevent any risk of politicised prosecutions.

We speak to Philippe Kirsch, the senior UN diplomat who chairs the Preparatory Commission for the ICC; Jack Klein, the Special Representative of the UN Secretary General in Bosnia, and Robert Kagan, a senior associate at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

Click on the links above right to hear more.