afrol News, 11 July - As US President George Bush Jr arrives Botswana, the country's Centre for Human Rights, Ditshwanelo, says it is "disappointed at our government's decision to exempt US citizens from indictment for war crimes under the new International Criminal Court (ICC)."

Shortly before the arrival of the US President to the country, Botswana had signed a so-called "impunity deal" with the US government. The US had threated to suspend its military aid to Botswana if it didn't agree to not extradite US citizens suspected of crimes against humanity.

Botswana announced yesterday that it had agreed to the US demands and had signed an agreement to exempt US citizens from ICC prosecution unless given consent by the US government.

As the Batswana Ministry of Foreign Affairs noted in its press release on the agreement, Botswana and the US enjoy "excellent relations," which have brought many "tangible benefits to the people of Botswana."

- However, any relationship between the two countries must be based on mutual respect of sovereignty, rule of law, and accountability of each country's government to its own citizens, Ditshwanelo said in a press release today.

The group said it feared that, in addition to threatening to suspend its military aid to Botswana, "the US President may have also tied money for important humanitarian programs, especially HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment, to his political goals, such as undermining the ICC."

Ditshwanelo said it urged Botwsanan's President Festus Mogae to be mindful of Vision 2016's commitment to a transparent government and an informed citizenry, and therefore "brief parliament on the substance of his bilateral agreement with the United States concerning the ICC."

- Further, we hope the government of Botswana will reconsider this bilateral treaty when it is due for its annual review, the Batswana human rights group said.


Background
The ICC was established in 2002 to prosecute citizens of any nation who commit war crimes, crimes against humanity, or genocide. It is modeled after the war crimes tribunals in Rwanda and Bosnia-Herzegovina, which were set up after ethnic factions raped, tortured, and killed members of rival ethnic groups. The tribunals have held the leaders of these factions accountable for their crimes, and have helped the survivors come to terms with their losses.

With the ICC in place, future perpetrators of mass murder and torture would be on notice that they, too, will face prosecution for their crimes. "War crimes, genocide, and/or crimes against humanity have plagued every region of the world, and it will require a permanent worldwide commitment to end them," according to Ditshwanelo.

The Rome Statute, which is the treaty creating the ICC, was drafted with the participation of the United States and signed by then-U.S. President Bill Clinton. Botswana supported a strong ICC, one that would treat citizens of large and small nations equally. Botswana is a member of the ICC.

However, when the administration of President Bush took power, it nullified the United States' membership to the Court and aggressively pushed other nations to sign bilateral treaties, which would exempt US citizens found within their borders from ICC prosecution.

Nations not agreeing to these treaties would have their military aid terminated. Some nations, including South Africa and Benin, who have not signed such an agreement, have seen their aid cut by millions of US dollars.

By staff writer

© afrol News

Related pages and feature

Current afrol News Top Stories