The United States was wise not to join the International Criminal Court. It could put American citizens under the jurisdiction of a foreign judiciary, without the due-process protections guaranteed by our Constitution.
But that apparently is not stopping the ICC from seeking to try American soldiers stationed in Afghanistan. The top prosecutor for the court recently told The Wall Street Journal that he has all the necessary authority to prosecute alleged war crimes by U.S. troops serving with NATO forces. In fact, he is carrying out a “preliminary examination” of actions by U.S. and other NATO troops to see whether there have been “crimes against humanity, war crimes or genocide in Afghanistan,” said prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo of Argentina.
We condemn war crimes, and any U.S. soldier who commits such a crime ought to be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law — but of U.S. law, under the U.S. Constitution.
The United States can — and does — prosecute soldiers who commit brutal acts while stationed overseas. For instance, five soldiers convicted in the 2006 rape of an Iraqi girl and the murder of her and her family are serving sentences ranging from two years to life. Several only barely escaped a death sentence. So rejecting an unaccountable foreign court’s “authority” is not about protecting criminals from the consequences of their actions. It is about maintaining U.S. sovereignty and preventing politically motivated prosecutions.
The United States should never sign on to the ICC and should resist its attempts to prosecute our troops.