U.S. Threatens Bolivia in Effort to Secure Criminal Court Immunity

Commentary/Analysis, Luis Bredow and Jim Shutz, Pacific News Service, Mar 03, 2005
U.S. efforts to pressure countries to grant U.S. troops immunity from international court prosecutions appear to be backfiring in some Latin American nations.

COCHABAMBA, Bolivia--The U.S. government is demanding that the Bolivian Congress approve an agreement that would grant immunity to U.S. troops and officials accused of human rights violations, exempting them from prosecution by the International Criminal Court. That effort, which includes a threat to withhold financial aid and access to free trade, seems to be backfiring.

Bolivia is one of 139 nations that have signed the Treaty of Rome, which set up the International Criminal Court (ICC) in 1998. A respected Bolivian judge, Renee Blattmann, also sits as a member of the court. The treaty's goal, according to its Preamble, "is to establish an independent permanent International Criminal Court with jurisdiction over the most serious crimes of concern to the international community as a whole." <snip>

Many believe that the war in Iraq and cases of U.S. torture have made the United States vulnerable to criminal charges of international human rights violations. <snip>

Since then, the Bush administration has been pressuring poor countries worldwide to ratify bilateral immunity pacts with the United States, often under the threat of withholding aid. Government officials say that the United States has already secured more than 90 such agreements. At least 50 governments, however, have refused to cede to the U.S. demands. The new president of Uruguay recently announced that his government would refuse the U.S. request, declaring that his country honors its international agreements. <snip>

http://news.pacificnews.org/news/view_article.html?article_id=40d8f93957008266edbc544c21df75be

in 2005?