“Sorry” is not enough

In the United States of America, we saddle ourselves with bad governance in domestic affairs, criminal behavior in foreign affairs

Re-reporting, editing, comment by Carolyn Bennett

U.S. PRIORITIES

CUT AMERICA, NOT ISRAEL

Media Matters fellow MJ Rosenberg wrote last week on Al Jazeera's news site that the $3 billion U.S. aid package to Israel “is the new third rail of American politics — touch it and die.”

The American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), makes clear to them— whatever party of faction they affiliate with— that touching the aid package will mean big trouble for them in the next election.…

“It no longer comes as much of a surprise that the average Democrat or Republican will rule that Israel aid cuts are off the table — while supporting cuts in programs like head start, which educates poor children, or WIC, which provides nutrition assistance to disadvantaged women and their infants.

“It is not a surprise because everyone knows that the Democratic and Republican campaign finance committees warn their members of the dire consequences that might ensue if they dare to stand up to the lobby.… Israel prepares a shopping list and congressional appropriators provide the goods.…

“This is wrong.

“Congress should treat the Israel aid package the same way it deals with programs that directly benefit Americans. [Supporters] should be forced to defend it, line by line.”

IMPUNITY (and IMMUNITY) —

BEFORE, DURING, AFTER FACT OF CRIME

Democracy Now reported last week that in the UN measure to expel Libya from the United Nations Human Rights Council, the U.S. exempted itself from its war crimes or crimes against humanity.

The Obama administration inserted a clause into the document exempting foreign nationals from international prosecution for any actions committed in Libya under a Security Council mandate. This means that in the event U.S. forces take part in an international force invading Libya, any potential war crimes committed would be tried—if at all—not in the Hague (home of the International Criminal Court), but in a U.S. court.

WAR DEAD

U.S. FOREIGN RELATIONS

AFGHANISTAN

They marched through central Kabul shouting 
“Death to America.”

“…Death to the invaders.”

A woman carried a placard reading 
“Occupation = killing + destruction.”

The children, ages 12 and younger, were gathering firewood Tuesday when fired upon and killed by a U.S.-NATO air strike in the northeastern province of Kunar.

The week before the children died 60 non-combatants had died during foreign-troop operations in Kunar province’s Ghaziabad district. Soon after the 60 had died, six civilians died in a U.S.-NATO air raid in neighboring Nangarhar province.

Twelve civilians died today when “a roadside bomb ripped through a car in the province of Paktika in eastern Afghanistan.” Among the dead were five children, two women and five men. “The victims were on their way from neighboring Pakistan.”

Last week and over the weekend, the foreign militaries said “Sorry” for killing your children.

Some in Afghanistan have come to the realization, in the face of repeated attacks on civilians that “An apology is not enough and sorry is not accepted.”  The killers and those who ordered the killings “must go on trial in Afghanistan” or “they must be tried in the International Criminal Court (ICC) for their action.”

In protest to the U.S.-NATO killing of children, hundreds of Afghans took to the streets of Kabul. Their chants were anti-American.

•

Twelve people died and five suffered wounds today when a roadside bomb exploded in eastern Afghanistan near the border with Pakistan.

U.S. FOREIGN RELATIONS

PAKISTAN

A Pakistani court said Thursday the U.S. CIA contractor, initially claimed by the U.S. government to be a “diplomat” when charged with killing Pakistanis, “does not have diplomatic immunity.” Thirty-six-old Raymond Davis is scheduled to stand trial in Pakistan on March 8 in the killing of two Pakistanis he called “robbers.”

Last month, U.S. Sen. John Kerry said “Sorry” for the shooting. The U.S. president said Davis enjoys diplomatic immunity under the Vienna Conventions.

•

Nine people died and 30 suffered wounds (among them three police officers) Thursday when a suicide bomb exploded in the densely populated northwestern area of Hangu.

“Taliban and al-Qaeda-linked fighters attack daily across northwest Pakistan and the tribal belt on the Afghan border.”

U.S. FOREIGN RELATIONS

SAUDI ARABIA (ally)

Putting down protests

State television on Saturday quoted Saudi Arabia’s interior ministry saying, according to Agence France-Presse, the Saudi security forces will use “all measures to prevent any attempt to disrupt public order.…

“Saudi Arabia has banned all protests and marches following recent anti-government protests in the kingdom’s east.”

In the past few weeks, the Shia population — concerned with lack of equal economic and employment opportunities and detentions without trial — has staged a series of protests.

Saudi Arabia is an absolute monarchy without an elected parliament and usually does not tolerate public dissent but the government denies discrimination against the Shia community. However, authorities in Saudi Arabia are reportedly “on edge” in light of anti-government protests across the region.

U.S. FOREIGN RELATIONS

IRAQ

Six people died and 12 suffered wounds in the southern Iraq city of Basra when a roadside bomb targeting a U.S. military convoy hit a bus carrying civilians. Among the casualties were women and children.

An estimated 50,000 foreign soldiers remain in this country. In February, “almost 200 people died as a result of violence.”

U.S. FOREIGN RELATIONS

YEMEN

Protests against the decades-old rule of this country’s president, Ali Abdullah Saleh, continued on Sunday. Amidst the protests, five Yemeni soldiers died in two separate suspected al-Qaeda attacks.

An estimated 40 pro-democracy protesters have suffered wounds in clashes with government forces. Nineteen (est.) people have died since protests began on February 16. Amnesty International estimates 27 people have died.

The U.S. and UK governments are advising against travel to Yemen.

U.S.-led

WAR DEAD

Casualty sites reporting March 6, 2011

(Accurate totals unknown)

• Anti-war dot com Casualties in Iraq since March 19, 2003

[U.S. war dead since the Obama inauguration January 20, 2009: 211]

Wounded 32,987-100,000

U.S. veterans with brain injuries 320,000

Suicides estimated: 18 a day

Latest update on this site: February 25, 2011

http://www.antiwar.com/casualties/

• Iraq Body Count

Worldwide update on civilians killed in the Iraq war and occupation —

Documented civilian deaths from violence

99,902 – 109,144

http://www.iraqbodycount.org/

• ICasualties figures:

AFGHANISTAN: 1,493 U.S.; 2,356 Coalition

IRAQ: 4,439 U.S.; 4,757 Coalition

http://icasualties.org/oif/

Sources and notes

“Why is Israel aid exempt?  As US fiscal conservatives cut food programs for poor children, military aid for Israel is left untouched” (Opinion MJ Rosenberg), March 5, 2011, http://english.aljazeera.net/indepth/opinion/2011/03/201135115850632729.html#

MJ Rosenberg is a senior foreign policy fellow at Media Matters Action Network. The above article first appeared in Foreign Policy Matters, a part of the Media Matters Action Network.

“U.S. Inserts ICC Exemption into U.N. Libya Measure Libya was expelled from the U.N. Human Rights Council earlier this week in response to its attacks on the uprising.” And “U.S. Attacks Kills 9 Afghan Boys Nine Afghan boys have been killed in a U.S.-led NATO attack in Afghanistan,” March 3, 2011, http://www.democracynow.org/2011/3/3/headlines

“Blast kills Afghan truck travelers—A roadside bomb kills 12 people and injures five others in eastern Afghanistan near border with Pakistan,” March 6, 2011, http://english.aljazeera.net/news/asia/2011/03/201136104040802662.html#

“Afghan bomb kills 12 civilians” (AFP), March 7, 2011, http://sg.news.yahoo.com/afp/20110306/twl-afghanistan-unrest-wrap-575b600.

“Afghans protest over child deaths in NATO raid” (AFP), March 7, 2011, http://sg.news.yahoo.com/afp/20110306/twl-afghanistan-unrest-nato-civilian-dem-575b600.html

“Pakistan: CIA man has no immunity — Court in Lahore rules that Raymond Davis, held on charges of killing two men, should stand trial,” March 3, 2011, http://english.aljazeera.net/news/asia/2011/03/2011338825200889.html#

“Saudi Arabia bans protest rallies — Interior ministry vows to use all steps ‘to prevent attempts to disrupt public order’ following recent Shia protests,” March 5, 2011, http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2011/03/201135143046557642.html#

“Civilians dead in Iraq bus bombing — Women and children among casualties aboard bus caught in attack targeting US convoy in southern city of Basra,” March 6, 2011,

http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2011/03/20113610138616996.html#

“Yemeni soldiers killed in attacks  — Five dead in suspected al-Qaeda attacks as protests continue against Saleh’s decades-long grip on power,” March 6, 2011, http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2011/03/20113685346945172.html#

The International Criminal Court (ICC), headquartered in The Netherlands at The Hague, is the permanent judicial body established by the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (1998) to prosecute and adjudicate individuals accused of genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity.

On July 1, 2002, after the requisite number of countries (60) ratified the agreement, the court began sittings.

The ICC was established as a court of last resort to prosecute the most heinous offenses in cases where national courts fail to act. Unlike the International Court of Justice, which hears disputes between states, the ICC handles prosecutions of individuals. The court’s jurisdiction extends to offenses that occurred after July 1, 2002, that were committed either in a state that has ratified the agreement or by a national of such a state.

Although the Rome Statute was widely praised (some 140 countries had signed the agreement by the time it entered into force), few countries in the Middle East or Asia joined.

By 2002, China, Russia, and the United States had declined to participate. The United States, moreover, had threatened to withdraw its troops from United Nations peacekeeping forces unless its citizens — both military and civilian — were exempted from prosecution by the International Criminal Court.

Nevertheless, within five years of its first sitting more than 100 countries had ratified the treaty. All member countries are represented in the Assembly of States Parties, which oversees the activities of the International Criminal Court.

International Criminal Court (ICC) . (2011). Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Deluxe Edition.  Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica

The States Parties to the Rome Statute

As of 12 October 12, 2010, 114 countries are States Parties to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. Out of them 31 are African States, 15 are Asian States, 18 are from Eastern Europe, 25 are from Latin American and Caribbean States, and 25 are from Western European and other States.

A

Afghanistan

Albania

Andorra

Antigua and Barbuda

Argentina

Australia

Austria

B

Bangladesh

Barbados

Belgium

Belize

Benin

Bolivia

Bosnia and Herzegovina

Botswana

Brazil

Bulgaria

Burkina Faso

Burundi

C

Cambodia

Canada

Central African Republic

Chad

Chile

Colombia

Comoros

Congo

Cook Islands

Costa Rica

Croatia

Cyprus

Czech Republic

D

Democratic Republic of the Congo

Denmark

Djibouti

Dominica

Dominican Republic

E

Ecuador        

Estonia

F

Fiji

Finland

France

G

Gabon

Gambia

Georgia

Germany

Ghana

Greece

Guinea

Guyana

H

Honduras

Hungary

I

Iceland

Ireland

Italy

J

Japan

Jordan

K

Kenya

L

Latvia

Lesotho

Liberia

Liechtenstein

Lithuania

Luxembourg

M

Madagascar

Malawi

Mali

Malta

Marshall Islands

Mauritius

Mexico

Mongolia

Montenegro

N

Namibia

Nauru

Netherlands 

New Zealand

Niger

Nigeria

Norway

P

Panama

Paraguay

Peru

Poland

Portugal

R

Republic of Korea

Republic of Moldova

Romania

S

Saint Kitts and Nevis

Saint Lucia

Saint Vincent and the Grenadines

Samoa

San Marino

Senegal

Serbia

Seychelles

Sierra Leone

Slovakia

Slovenia

South Africa

Spain

Suriname

Sweden

Switzerland

T

Tajikistan

The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia

Timor-Leste

Trinidad and Tobago

U

Uganda

United Kingdom

United Republic of Tanzania

Uruguay

V

Venezuela

Z

Zambia

http://www.icc-cpi.int/Menus/ASP/states+parties/

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