The ICC (International Criminal Court) is often considered as the last option for prosecution of war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide cases. The court was established in July 2002 under the Rome Statute ( Overy, 2003). It is an international treaty ratified by up to 122 countries globally. Nevertheless, the United States is among the few countries that have neither ratified nor signed the Rome Statute.
There are various primary reasons the United States did not sign and ratified the Rome Statute. The primary reason is that by signing, the ICC will be endowed with the ability to hold United States' political leaders and the military to the international standard of justice ( Clapham, 2003). It hence signifies that the U.S. would be unable to protect its political leaders and military who may have committed criminal acts against humanity. In this case, the big issue for the United States is to deter any possibility of leaking the Government secrets.
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Another big reason the United States has not signed the Rome Statute is that being party to the ICC requires a nation to undermine its religious freedom, freedom of the press, freedom of speech, as well as the right to a peaceful assembly ( Leigh, 2001). This is regardless of protection of these rights in the respective national laws. In the case of the United States, these are the basic rights that were highly fought for by the founding fathers and should hence be upheld. The rights are guaranteed in the 1st constitutional amendment. The International Criminal Court might soon emerge as an impediment to the rights of freedom ( Schabas, 2004). This is the reason the United States should continue wishing away from signing the Rome Statute. If the United States joins the ICC, it means that the highly valued treasures put forth by the founding fathers will be thrown away.
References
Clapham, A. (2003). Issues of complexity, complicity, and complementarity: from the Nuremberg trials to the dawn of the new International Criminal Court.
Leigh, M. (2001). The United States and the statute of Rome. The American Journal of International Law , 95 (1), 124-131.
Overy, R. (2003). The Nuremberg trials: international law in the making . na.
Schabas, W. A. (2004). United States Hostility to the International Criminal Court: It’s all about the security council. European Journal of International Law , 15 (4), 701-720.
