The Washington Working Group for the ICC (WICC) is the center of ICC advocacy efforts in Washington, DC. Information on action directed at the administration and the congress can be found on the WICC website.

Please send us copies of letters you have sent to the administration and any responses so that we can add them in this section.

• Obama Statements on the ICC
• Administration Position on the ICC
• Administrative Advocacy Actions
• Letters to the Administration

As a candidate, Senator Barack Obama stated that his administration would cooperate with the Court on Darfur and other cases and consult closely with military and legal advisers before making a decision on whether to join the Court.

• "The United States should cooperate with ICC investigations in a way that reflects American sovereignty and promotes our national security interests." Response to candidate questionnaire, 2004.
  
  
• "I will consult thoroughly with our military commanders and also examine the track record of the Court before reaching a decision on whether the U.S. should become a State Party to the ICC." Response to candidate questionnaire, October 6, 2007.
  
  
• "My administration would continue to cooperate with ongoing ICC investigations in Sudan." Response to candidate questionnaire, October 6, 2007.
  
  
• "The US also needs to work with the International Criminal Court to ramp up the pace of indictments of those responsible for war crimes and crimes against humanity, while Khartoum must feel increased pressure to hand over those individuals already indicted by the Court." Press statement, April 23, 2008.

The Obama Administration has indicated that it will take a more positive approach toward the ICC. Members of the administration have made positive statements about the Court and engaged with the ICC in ways that support US national interests.

Several individuals sympathetic to the Court are in places of influence in the administration:

• Harold Hongju Koh, Legal Adviser, US Department of State
  
  
• Michael Posner, Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights and Labor, US Department of State
  
  
• Samantha Power, Senior Director for Multilateral Affairs, National Security Council
  
  
• Stephen J. Rapp, Ambassador-at-Large for Global Criminal Justice, US Department of State
  
  

The Obama administration now regularly attends and participates in meetings of the ICC's governing body, the Assembly of States Parties. It has also made statements on the Darfur and support for the case against Omar Al Bashir, president of Sudan. Most dramatically, it co-sponsored and voted in favor of Resolution 1970, adopted unanimously by the UN Security Council, which referred the situation in Libya to the ICC. However, it has indicated that it does not plan to complete a formal US policy toward the ICC.

What you can do

• Thank the administration for co-sponsoring and voting in favor of the UN Security Council referral of the situation in Libya to the ICC.
  
  
• Urge the administration to take steps to engage constructively with the ICC, including cooperating with the Court on investigations and prosecutions in the US national interest.
  
  
• Remind Congress of the importance of administration action on the ICC, including on issues such as Darfur, Libya, genocide, and child soldiers, using opportunities for this such as hearings.

Letter to US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton on the ICC Policy Review from Non-Governmental Organizations, including AMICC, April 16, 2009