Headlines, Human Rights, Latin America & the Caribbean

POLITICS-CARIBBEAN: Leaders Seek United Front on U.S. Retaliation

Peter Richards

PORT OF SPAIN, Jul 3 2003 (IPS) - Caribbean Community (CARICOM) leaders opened their annual summit in the Jamaican resort city of Montego Bay on Wednesday faced with a decision by the United States to blacklist Caribbean states that refused to exempt U.S. citizens from possible prosecution under the International Criminal Court (ICC).

Altogether, the United States suspended military assistance to 35 countries, including six Caribbean states, for failing to give U.S. citizens immunity from potential war crime indictments at the ICC.

Washington’s announcement, made during a two-day retreat by the leaders ahead of the summit, prompted fears that the cut in military aid may be the prelude to reductions, or even an end to economic development assistance from the United States for some countries.

Jamaica’s Prime Minister PJ Patterson, the incoming CARICOM chairman, argued that the community was facing its most critical time in its history, with the emergence of "a unipolar force within the global village" and when "major perils exist for small countries who simply seek to exercise their hard-won rights of political sovereignty".

"As an association of states, we must exercise sovereignty individually and collectively for the betterment of our people of the Caribbean," Patterson said.

Like Patterson, Belize’s Prime Minister Said Musa did not identify the "forces" threatening the Caribbean’s sovereignty, but he spoke of "unilateral positions" being adopted at the international level that were seriously undermining the sovereignty and development of the region.

The matter will no doubt be further discussed when the leaders take up foreign policy issues on their packed agenda, even as conference sources acknowledged a possible "blending of positions" into a common approach to avoid "a confrontational stance with Washington".

St. Vincent and the Grenadines Prime Minister Dr. Ralph Gonsalves said simply that "friends sometimes (have) differences".

"This is one of those occasions where our American friends and ourselves have a difference. I believe we can sort out this problem through Caricom and bilaterally," he said. "Caricom is unified as to how we proceed, but that does not mean that we will all proceed in the same manner."

While Washington insists that it wants only to guarantee the safety of its troops around the world, former Trinidad and Tobago head of state Arthur Robinson, a lead proponent of the ICC, described the United States as acting like a "big bully" and urged the Caribbean and other countries to unite in their condemnation of the U.S. latest position.

Washington had given Jul. 1 as the deadline to negotiate bilateral agreements that would exempt U.S. personnel from the court’s jurisdiction, which encompasses crimes against humanity, genocide and war crimes.

Article 98 of the Rome Statute that established the ICC imposes a general obligation upon parties to cooperate fully with the court in its investigation and prosecution of crimes within the jurisdiction of the court.

Former U.S. President Bill Clinton signed the Rome Statute in Dec. 2000, but two months before it entered into force on Jul. 1, 2002, the new administration under his successor, George W. Bush, notified the United Nations that the United States was backing out.

The recent suspension of aid covers international military education and training (IMET) funds, which mainly pay the cost of educating foreign officers at U.S. institutions, and foreign military funding, which pays for U.S. weapons and other aid.

The Caribbean states listed under the U.S. suspension order include Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Belize, Dominica, St. Vincent and the Grenadines and Trinidad and Tobago.

Robinson said that the countries involved had to "decide on a course of action and must advocate strongly against the decision of the United States".

"It is an extremely regressive move by the United States. It is an attack on universal criminal justice, on the international democratic institution and the ICC," Robinson said.

"It is action taken against small countries that cannot defend themselves. It is extremely important that all countries involved unite against the unilateral actions of the U.S., which is contravening international law," he said.

Trinidad and Tobago’s Prime Minister Patrick Manning, though "disappointed" at the U.S. position, reiterated his early position that his nation’s involvement in the court from its inception made it impossible for him to change positions.

"Trinidad and Tobago was an initiator of the ICC and therefore, for us, it is a matter of principle for which we have no flexibility," Manning said.

A former Trinidad and Tobago attorney-general, Karl Hudson Phillips, was recently elected as a judge on the ICC.

Prior to the start of the summit in Jamaica, Antigua and Barbuda Prime Minister Lester Bird signalled his intention to get regional leaders to adopt a joint position on Washington’s request.

Bird said the establishment of the ICC was of critical importance to the Caribbean, particularly since the region played an integral part in the creation of the international tribunal.

However, to date only six CARICOM countries have ratified the agreement.

"Potentially there are eight of 14 Caribbean states that could exempt the United States on the basis that they have neither signed or ratified the ICC Treaty," Bird said, even though last month Caribbean foreign ministers rejected the U.S. position.

Washington’s position has been met with criticism from the media in the region.

The Observer newspaper in Jamaica noted that "too often, these days, we find ourselves on the other side of issues than the United States".

"Indeed, people cannot be blamed if there is a view that America now sees the world only through a prism of power. Its own power. So talk loudly, walk heavily. No matter who gets crushed. So long that it’s not Uncle Sam, his children, nephews and nieces," the paper said in an editorial on Thursday.

The Trinidad Express newspaper took a similar stand, branding the action as "American injustice".

It said that Washington, which prides itself on being democratic, just and humane, has decided to cut off military aid to several countries because of their decision to support a "court established to punish sadistic and inhumane goons found guilty of serious and reprehensible crimes against humanity, genocide among others."