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The International
Criminal Court (ICC) is the first new major international institution
of the 21st Century. It holds individuals accountable for genocide,
war crimes and crimes against humanity. It was formed as a universal
response to past and present atrocities. Its creation is the
culmination of fifty years of international efforts through
the United Nations to create a permanent international judicial
institution to try heinous crimes that are condemned by all
governments, religions, cultures and peoples.
AMICC is a coalition of non-governmental organizations committed
to achieving through education, information, promotion and
an aroused public opinion full United States support for the
International Criminal Court and the earliest possible
US ratification of the Court's Rome Statute. AMICC members
believe that strong participation by the US in the ICC is
essential to the future of the Court as an effective institution.
They take pride in the historic role of the US in promoting
the development of international criminal law. They emphasize
that the ICC expresses and implements values traditionally
championed by the United States, including international justice
and the rule of law.
The United States was a major pioneer of international
courts from Nuremberg to the International Criminal Tribunals
for Yugoslavia and Rwanda, and in negotiations for the ICC
made significant contributions to its founding documents,
however the US government has chosen to oppose the Court actively.
By contrast, countries worldwide, including the closest friends
of the United States, are overwhelmingly committed to the
Court as a historic achievement in the long struggle against
impunity for atrocities. As a result, the Rome Statute for the ICC came
into force on July 1, 2002, less than four years after its
adoption. It has now been ratified by over 100 countries. The United States must face up to this inevitability
now. It must give up its opposition and instead protect its interests by influencing the early work of the Assembly of States
Parties as the Court's representative body, and by shaping the Court's procedures
and early jurisprudence. This will require US support for
the Court including full participation as an
observer in the Assembly until the earliest possible American ratification
of the Statute. If not, others will take charge of these essential
acts and determine the Court's basic design and evolution.
AMICC has been convened to ensure that this does not happen.
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