Blanket immunity: Bush twists arms to evade court.

• Author: Pal, Amitabh

For the past four years, the Bush Administration has systematically set out to exempt the United States from the purview of the International Criminal Court. Using bullying tactics, it has often gotten its way. But at a cost.

President Bush's disdain for the International Criminal Court has been clear all along. His Administration did everything in its power to sabotage its creation.

Having failed in that effort, it set out to twist the arms of governments the world over to sign bilateral agreements ensuring that they would not send U.S. personnel up to the court for prosecution.

"Our ultimate goal is to conclude [these] agreements with every country in the world, regardless of whether they have signed or ratified the ICC, regardless of whether they intend to in the future," John Bolton, then-undersecretary of state for arms control and international security, remarked in 2002.

Today, about 100 countries have abided by the Bush Administration's wishes, but more than fifty countries have publicly refused, including two dozen that have lost aid in the process.

These agreements that the Bush Administration has been pressuring countries to sign exempt all U.S. citizens--including servicemembers and government officials from being brought before the International Criminal Court, without a promise that the United States would itself prosecute its citizens for any crimes committed. To maintain a facade of give-and-take, these agreements are often reciprocal.

"Under these agreements, all U.S. nationals and non-nationals employed by the U.S. government must be granted blanket immunity" says Golzar Kheiltash, legal analyst with Citizens for Global Solutions. "So a Kenyan mercenary in Kenya hired by the U.S. government could not be handed over to the ICC."

This diplomatic effort has been run by the State Department at the behest of the White House.

"Bolton has orchestrated the campaign with the support of Cheney," says John Washburn, director of ICC Programs at the United Nations Association of the United States of America.

The old Republican Congress passed legislation to punish countries that did not sign on the dotted line, even when doing so undermined other foreign policy goals.

Two major pieces of legislation ensured this. The American Servicemembers' Protection Act halts particular kinds of military aid to countries that refused to toe the Bush Administration line. And the Nethercutt Amendment cuts off certain types of economic aid for...