TRYING TO put a brave face on it, the CARICOM Heads have issued a statement calling on member states to ratify the International Criminal Court (ICC) while at the same time acquiescing to those states who wish to negotiate bi-lateral arrangements with America, granting waivers from prosecution for its citizens.
The Heads excel at rhetoric and know well that in a contest between David and Goliath, the crowd always claps for the underdog; so several of them, most notably Prime Minister Patrick Manning of Trinidad and Tobago, lambasted the United States for being a bully and is not prepared to grant the waivers. It appears that the Bahamas and Antigua, on the other hand, while condemning America on principle, are more inclined on the basis of self-interest to go along with the requested immunity.
In all the emotional fireworks, it is easy to overlook some of America’s genuine and logical concerns. It is important to distinguish between her right not to be a party to the treaty on the one hand, and, on the other, her attempts to bully those who wish to participate by cutting off aid. These are two separate issues and it is on the latter, not the first, that America displays her moral duplicity and the region exposes to a large degree moral cowardice in not unanimously condemning it.
From the beginning of the negotiations in Rome, America raised concerns about the treaty’s vagueness and scope, concerns that perhaps its proponents too aggressively brushed aside. America felt that the crimes over which the court would have jurisdiction were so vaguely defined that governments hostile to the US could use ambiguity to indict US peacekeepers and military personnel and force them to face criminal proceedings contrary to the core principle of the Constitution, principles which no US administration is empowered to surrender.
And, most objectionable of all, it was proposed that the ICC’s jurisdiction be extended to citizens of countries that did not ratify the treaty. Thus, even America’s refusal to ratify it would not protect her from its provisions.
America sees herself, therefore, as being pushed to use blackmail to protect her interest and she attempts to justify it accordingly. But this is inexcusable gunboat diplomacy, unworthy of a great power. A unified position by the CARICOM Heads condemning it would have been welcome.
The Jamaica Gleaner
