(The ICC has proposed [1] to prosecute the President of Sudan for war crimes.) But Sudan is no more a member of the ICC than the United States is. And its president is no more a war criminal than ours, and no more already out of office than ours. Why the double standard? Is the International Criminal Court afraid of the United States? You can ask them in a short note or long letter (here's a sample letter [2]).
Email: otp.informationdesk@icc-cpi.int [3]
Fax: +31 70 515 8555
Mail:
Information and Evidence Unit
Office of the Prosecutor
Post Office Box 19519
2500 CM The Hague
The Netherlands
________
Dennis Cimino says he wrote to the ICC 10 times before getting this form letter response. I don't know what he wrote, but I recommend that you write to them too. Their address is on the letter [4].
ANOTHER ICC RESPONSE SOMEONE SENT US:
Our Reference: OTP-CR-359/08
The Hague, Thursday, 18 December 2008
Dear Sir, Madam
On behalf of the Prosecutor, I thank you for your communication
received on 7/30/2008, as well as any
subsequent related information.
As you may know, the International Criminal Court ("the ICC" or "the
Court") is governed by the
Rome Statute, which entrusts the Court with a very specific and
carefully defined jurisdiction and mandate. A
fundamental feature of the Rome Statute (Articles 12 and 13) is that
the Court may only exercise jurisdiction
over international crimes if (i) its jurisdiction has been accepted by
the State on the territory of which the crime
was committed, (ii) its jurisdiction has been accepted by the Statute
of which the person accused is a national, or
(iii) the situation is referred to the Prosecutor by the Security
Council acting under Chapter VII of the UN
Charter.
Based on the information currently available, it appears that none of
these preconditions are satisfied
with respect to the conduct described. Accordingly, as the allegations
appear to fall outside the jurisdiction of
the Court, the Prosecutor has confirmed that there is not a basis at
this time to proceed with further analysis.
The information you have submitted will be maintained in our archives,
and the decision not to proceed may be
reconsidered if new facts or evidence provide a reasonable basis to
believe that the allegations fall within the
jurisdiction of the Court. The decision may also be reviewed if there
is an acceptance of jurisdiction by the
relevant States or a referral from the Security Council.
I hope you will appreciate that with the defined jurisdiction of the
Court, many serious allegations will
be beyond the reach of this institution to address. I note in this
regard that the ICC is designed to complement,
not replace national jurisdictions. Thus, if you wish to pursue this
matter further, you may consider raising it
with appropriate national or international authorities.
I am grateful for your interest in the ICC. If you would like to learn
more about the work of the ICC, I
invite you to visit our website at www.icc-cpi.int [5].
Yours sincerely,
M.P. Dillon
Head of the Information & Evidence Unit
Office of the Prosecutor
