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 News Around the Republic of Mexico | February 2006 
Mexico Won't Back Down in Support of War Crimes Tribunal
 Ioan Grillo - Associated Press
| | Incinerated body of an Iraqi soldier on the "Highway of Death," a name the press has given to the road from Mutlaa, Kuwait, to Basra, Iraq. |
Mexico City – Mexico said Thursday it will stand firm in pushing for the right of an international war tribunal to prosecute U.S. soldiers, despite the fact that the decision will cost it more than US $1 million in U.S. military funding to fight drug gangs.
The approved U.S. International Military Education and Training budget for Mexico in 2006 is US $50,000 (euro41,764,) down from US $1.25 million (euro1.04 million) in 2005, according to a U.S. State Department report released this week.
Ruben Aguilar, the spokesman for President Vicente Fox, said the US$50,000-budget was “the same as zero.”
“This country will be irrefutable in supporting the protocols of the international court, whatever the cost,” Aguilar said. “Nobody in the world should be immune from the action of justice.”
U.S. State Department officials said that the cut was made to comply with the 2002 American Service Members Protection Act.
The law states that military assistance should not be given to countries that have ratified the International Criminal Court, a permanent war crimes tribunal based in the Hague, unless they sign a pact granting U.S. military personnel special immunity.
Mexico became the 100th country to ratify the court in October, and it didn't not sign the special pact.
The U.S. government opposes the court, arguing that it could be used for frivolous or politically motivated prosecutions of American troops.
Foreign Secretary Luis Ernesto Derbez said that Mexico will not change its position on the war tribunal under any circumstances.
“We are going to stand firm. There are no exceptions,” Derbez said.
Richard Dicker of the New York-based Human Rights Watch, which is an advocate for the tribunal, criticized the U.S. decision.
“Washington is shooting itself in the foot with its misguided policy. This kind of vindictive action only undercuts drug interdiction efforts,” Dicker said. “It is a very significant development that Mexico, a major player in Latin America, will not succumb to this kind of blackmail.”
Mexico has been overwhelmed by drug-related violence, which has left more than 1,000 dead across the country in 2005, many in towns along the U.S.-Mexico border.
U.S. Ambassador to Mexico Tony Garza has repeatedly urged the Mexican government to do more to stop the drug smuggling cartels.
The International Criminal Court is the end result of a campaign for a permanent war crimes tribunal that began with the Nuremberg trials after World War II. It can prosecute cases of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity committed after July 1, 2002, but will step in only when countries are unwilling or unable to dispense justice themselves. |
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