At a news conference in Nairobi this morning, U.S. Ambassador-at-Large for War Crimes Issues Stephen Rapp announced that the US will participate as an observer in the November 18-26th meeting of the ICC Assembly of States Parties in the Hague. According to reports, Rapp himself will lead the U.S. delegation.
Like all countries which signed the Final Act of the 1998 Rome Conference that established the ICC, the U.S. is entitled to participate as an observer in all intergovernmental ICC meetings, a status which confers all the rights and privileges of any other attendee except voting.
But until today’s announcement, the U.S. has never made use of this right, unlike many other non-states parties, including China and Russia, which have participated as observers in ICC meetings.
The Obama administration – like the Bush administration before it – has already expressed support for the ICC’s investigations into crimes in Darfur. The administration’s recently released Sudan policy includes support for international efforts to bring to justice those responsible for genocide and war crimes in Darfur.
The U.S.’s approach to the Court has steadily warmed since 2005, when the U.S. abstained from voting on — and thereby allow to pass — the United Nations Security Council resolution referring the Darfur situation to the ICC. Today’s announcement follows this trajectory. The U.S. has now taken a notable step beyond supporting investigations of specific atrocity situations and returned to a policy of engagement with the court as a whole. Describing the decision this morning, Ambassador Rapp noted: “we certainly are looking to engage with the ICC to ensure that in places where there are no other avenues for accountability that it will be an effective instrument for ensuring that individuals are brought to justice.”
The opinions expressed here are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the position of the Save Darfur Coalition.
Tags: Darfur, ICC, Obama Administration, Sudan, United Nations, War Crimes
