The Justice Department on June 29 sent a Letter (full text) to the President of the International Criminal Court reiterating that the United States is not a party to the Rome Statute and has never consented to the Court's jurisdiction. It emphasizes that the U.S. will oppose any attempt to assert ICC authority over any U.S. person. The Letter reads in part:
... [T]he ICC has acted in an increasingly lawless and illegitimate manner. It has repeatedly asserted jurisdiction over non-consenting countries, disregarded its own complementarity requirement, and pursued investigations that appear driven as much by political pressure and institutional self-interest as by legal merit. Its record of selective enforcement and credible allegations of internal misconduct raise serious doubts about the ICC's impartiality, credibility, and legitimacy....
Congress has made the United States' position unmistakably clear since 2002, when it passed in the American Servicemembers' Protection Act ... which expressly repudiates ICC jurisdiction over U.S. persons, including U.S. servicemembers, government officials, and civilians.... We will neither extradite nor transfer any U.S. person to the ICC, and we will actively oppose any effort by other countries to do so. If any U.S. person is detained under purported ICC authority, the United States will take all necessary measures to secure that individual's immediate release....
The Rome Statute gives the ICC jurisdiction over genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and crimes of aggression. The Department of Justice last week issued a press release announcing the submission of the letter.
