U.S. Drops Plan to Exempt G.I.’s From U.N. Court

With only one week left before a special exemption for US troops was set to expire at the United Nations, Washington has said it will no longer seek to protect its military from prosecution by the International Criminal Court. For two years running, the US has received a special one-year exemption from the UN Security Council that prevents its civilian and military personnel taking part in peace-keeping operations overseas from being tried for any crimes at the ICC. But faced with unusually strong resistance from UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan and reluctance from other Council member states, the US decided to not press forward with a request for renewal of the exemption. Criticism over the Iraqi prisoner torture scandal and the new-found yet fragile unity of the Council was cited by several diplomats as reasons for the US to back down. Still, the Bush Administration showed its displeasure at being forced to concede to the demands of others, saying in a statement that Washington will "take into account the risk of International Criminal Court review when determining contributions to U.N. authorized or established operations." – YaleGlobal