US to shun deal on international criminal court

AFP -- NEW YORK: The Bush administration has decided to renounce formally any involvement in a treaty setting up an international criminal court and is expected to declare that the signing of the document by Clinton administration is no longer valid.

The "unsigning" of the treaty, which is expected to be announced on Monday, will be a decisive rejection by the White House of the concept of a permanent tribunal designed to prosecute individuals for genocide, crimes against humanity and other war crimes, the New York Times reported.

The administration has long argued that the court has the potential to create havoc for the United States, exposing US soldiers and officials overseas to capricious and mischievous prosecutions.

"We think it was a mistake to have signed it," an administration official was quoted by the newspaper as saying.

"We have said we will not submit it to the Senate for ratification."

The renunciation, officials said, also means the United States will not recognise the court's jurisdiction and will not submit to any of its orders.

In addition, other officials said, the US will simultaneously assert that it will not be bound by the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, a 1969 pact that outlines the obligations of nations to obey other international treaties.