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Dwight Fetterman (FGCU) Blackwater Should be Tried for War Crimes…
Blackwater USA should be charged with war crimes - but probably won’t.
The latest immunity deal between the U.S. State Department and Blackwater shows why the Bush Administration refuses to support the International Criminal Court.
The International Criminal Court was created by international treaty in 2002, for the prosecution of war crimes committed on or after that date. United States joined countries like China and Israel in refusing to participate in the court, claiming it feared political persecution of U.S. citizens.
However, the ICC charter specifically states that the court does not have jurisdiction over a war crimes case if “The case is being investigated or prosecuted by a State which has jurisdiction over it, unless the State is unwilling or unable genuinely to carry out the investigation or prosecution.” So states that are willing to investigate allegations in good faith need not fear politically-motivated cases coming to the ICC.
And now we understand why the Bush Administration is so afraid of the ICC. The Associated Press recently reported that the State Department promised Blackwater USA bodyguards immunity from prosecution in its investigation of the deadly shooting of 17 Iraqi civilians in September 2007 acts clearly defined by the ICC charter as war crimes.
According to the AP, “The immunity deal has delayed a criminal inquiry into the Sept. 16 killings and could undermine any effort to prosecute security contractors for their role in the incident that has infuriated the Iraqi government.”
It is precisely this scenario in which a State refuses or impedes an investigation of war crimes committed in its jurisdiction for which the International Criminal Court was created. And it is clear that the Bush Administration’s intention to ignore war crimes carried out by U.S. citizens and contractors is the real reason it won’t sign on to the ICC.