UN Votes to Send Sudan War Crimes to the high court

United States, which abstained with three other countries, have won the significant concessions, including ironclad guarantees it sought that Americans working in Sudan would not be handed over to either the ICC or any other nation’s courts if they commit crimes in Sudan.

With Secretary-General Kofi Annan looking on, the council voted 11-0. Algeria, Brazil and China also abstained. Acting U.S. Ambassador Anne Patterson said the United States still “fundamentally objects” to the court but was determined to get something done on Sudan.Washington had received assurances that no US members of any peacekeeping operation in Sudan would be prosecuted.

A UN report two months ago said attacks on civilians in Darfur could amount to crimes against humanity. The report said such cases should be tried at the court in The Hague. “The Security Council’s action signals that those most responsible for mayhem and murder in Darfur will be brought to justice,” said Richard Dicker, director of Human Rights Watch’s International Justice Program. “This historic step by the Security Council offers real hope of protection for people in Darfur.”

Human Rights Watch welcomes the abstention of the United States in the vote. “We now look to the ICC prosecutor to respond swiftly and assume the responsibilities entrusted to him,” said Dicker. It said “nationals or current or former officials or personnel from a contributing state outside Sudan which is not a party to the Rome Statute” establishing the ICC should come under the “exclusive jurisdiction of that contributing state” in any allegations arising from operations sanctioned by the African Union or U.N. in Sudan.

Washington was adamant it get protection for Americans from the court, which it believes could be used as a political weapon against the United States.