UNITED NATIONS — The United States vetoed a resolution to extend U.N. peacekeeping operations in Bosnia on Sunday because American peacekeepers were not exempted from prosecution by the new International Criminal Court.


Even the United States agreed that Bosnian peacekeeping had become the casualty of U.S. opposition to the court, which comes into existence on Monday, and there was pressure from other council members try to prevent its demise.

Immediately after the veto, U.N. Security Council members returned to closed-door consultations to try to agree on another resolution that would briefly extend the Bosnian mandate.

This would give more time to try to resolve the dispute that pits the United States against almost all 14 other members of the powerful council. France and Britain proposed an extension until July 15, but the United States was only willing to agree to 72 hours, diplomats said

June 30, 2002
U.S. Ends U.N. Mission in Bosnia Over New Global Court
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS


NITED NATIONS -- The United States vetoed a resolution to extend U.N.
peacekeeping operations in Bosnia on Sunday because it did not win agreement
to exempt American peacekeepers from prosecution by the new International
Criminal Court.
Despite the veto, U.N. Security Council members were expected to discuss a
separate resolution that would briefly extend the Bosnian mandate. This
would give more time to try to resolve the dispute that pits the United
States against almost all 14 other members of the powerful council.
If no agreement is reached, the 1,500-strong U.N. police training mission in
Bosnia would end at midnight Sunday.
The United States is demanding that American peacekeepers be exempt from
arrest and prosecution by the court, which comes into existence on Monday.
The United States has rejected all compromises that don't grant blanket
immunity.
The United States says immunity is needed to prevent American troops and
citizens from frivolous and political motivated prosecutions. Opponents say
there are enough safeguards to prevent such abuse.
The 14 other council members -- including close U.S. allies Britain and
France -- support the new court and argue that a U.S. exemption would
undermine the tribunal and international law.
In Sunday's vote, 13 countries voted in favor of extending the mandate for
Bosnia's U.N. police training mission for six months and the authorization
for the 17,000-strong, NATO-led force in the country for a year. Bulgaria, a
sponsor of the resolution, abstained to highlight the absence of council
unity but said it still supports the court.
U.S. Ambassador John Negroponte said the United States voted against the
resolution "with great reluctance" but will not ask Americans in U.N.
peacekeeping missions "to accept the additional risk of political
prosecution before a court whose jurisdiction the government of the United
States does not accept."
"The United States will remain a special target," he said, "and we cannot
have our decisions second-guessed."
Supporters of the court expressed dismay at the U.S. action, which could
affect the 14 other U.N. peacekeeping missions as their mandates come up for
renewal in the Security Council.
"History, I believe, will record the actions of the U.S. administration of
President George W. Bush to wreck U.N. peacekeeping and the International
Criminal Court as one of the most shameful lows in global U.S. leadership,"
said William Pace, head of the International Coalition for a Criminal Court,
a coalition of more than 1,000 organizations supporting the tribunal.
U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan urged the council to intensify high-level
negotiations to find a solution.
Cont.....

"The world cannot afford a situation in which the Security Council is deeply
divided on such an important issue, which may have implications for all U.N.
peace operations," he declared.
A U.S. official said both Secretary of State Colin Powell and National
Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice were involved in high-level discussions
over the weekend on the Bosnia resolution.
The veto won't stop the world's first permanent war crimes court from coming
into existence on Monday. Dutch administrators overseeing its initial months
of operation are ready to register claims of genocide and wartime
atrocities.
With the backing of 74 countries -- despite fierce opposition from the
United States -- The Hague-based institute will have the authority to
prosecute individuals -- not states -- suspected of war crimes anywhere in
the world.
The International Criminal Court will not have the power to try offenses
committed before July 1, 2002.
The start of the court's jurisdiction signals the beginning of "the greatest
institution of peace ever created," Pace said. "All who believe in democracy
and justice and the rule of law can celebrate.
"This is truly one of the greatest advances of international law since the
founding of the United Nations 57 years ago."