Ratify the International Criminal Court Treaty

Resolution Adopted by the NY Democratic State Convention --  May 23, 2002

             WHEREAS, beginning with the Nuremberg and Tokyo Tribunals after World War II and continuing through the establishment of special international tribunals to prosecute genocide and crimes against humanity in the former Yugoslavia, Rwanda and Sierra Leone, the United State has long been a leader in supporting the enhancement of international law and justice and the protection of human rights through criminal accountability, and 

            WHEREAS, 139 countries, including the United States under President Bill Clinton, signed the Rome Statute to create an International Criminal Court to try war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide, and 66 countries have now ratified the treaty, bringing the treaty into force on July 1, 2002 and leading to the certain establishment of the Court soon thereafter, and 

            WHEREAS, the establishment of the International Criminal Court is an historic milestone for international justice and the movement for human rights around the world, and the Court is supported by virtually every Western democracy and NATO member except the present American administration, and 

            WHEREAS, the International Criminal Court is designed to be a fair, independent judicial body that respects the highest standards of justice, and is supported by the American Bar Association, the Association of the Bar of the City of New York, and other legal and human rights organizations around the world, 

            NOW THEREFORE,  BE IT HEREBY RESOLVED, the New York State Democratic Committee calls upon the President to submit the Rome Statute establishing the International Criminal Court to the United States Senate, and calls upon the Senate to promptly ratify the treaty, and it is further 

            RESOLVED, that the New York State Democratic Committee opposes any measures by the United States to hinder or oppose the establishment of the International Criminal Court, and calls upon the Congress to reject the unnecessary and misnamed “American Serviceman’s Protection Act” designed to undermine the Court by penalizing other countries which support it. 

            Written and Introduced by Lawrence Moss, Adopted by the Reform Caucus of the Democratic State Convention, and Adopted by the NY State Democratic Convention meeting in New York, NY,  May 23, 2002.