| WASHINGTON
- September 30 - Thirty-two allies and friendly nations today lost vital military assistance for fiscal year 2003, allocated under the President's budget to serve national security interests and promote peace and democracy. The military assistance to be withheld under the same legislation for Fiscal Year 2004 could total an additional $89.28 million.
On July 1st, military assistance was withheld from 32 U.S. friends and allies who refused to bow to the Bush administration's demands to grant all American nationals immunity from prosecution at the International Criminal Court (ICC). These countries fear that such agreements would cause them to violate their legal commitments to an international treaty (the Rome Statute of the ICC). Because today marks the end of Fiscal Year 2003, the 32 countries which have not capitulated to U.S. demands will permanently lose the funds withheld as of July 1st.
These 32 U.S. allies and friends have lost their U.S. military assistance under the American Servicemembers Protection Act (2002) because President Bush has refused to grant them national interest waivers. Affected countries include Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Slovakia, all of which have sent troops to Iraq, as well as key partners in the war on terrorism and drug trafficking (see below for a complete list).
"This is the first sanction in U.S. diplomatic history targeted exclusively at democracies. The administration's ideological opposition to the International Criminal Court is compromising other vital U.S. foreign policy priorities and putting allies and friendly nations in a difficult position," said Heather B. Hamilton, Director of Programs at the World Federalist Association. "These nations cannot be expected to put U.S. nationals above the law that their own leaders and citizens abide and live by." ### Notes to the Editor:
Nations that have lost U.S. military assistance are:
Nations publicly refused to conclude a BIA: Brazil ($500,000); Costa Rica ($400,000); Croatia ($5.8 million); Estonia ($7.45 million); Latvia ($7.45 million); Lithuania ($8.2 million); Mali ($250,000); Namibia ($225,000); Peru ($2.7 million); Slovenia ($4.95 million); South Africa ($7.6 million); Tanzania ($230,000); Trinidad &Tobago ($450,000); Venezuela ($700,000)
Nations that have not concluded a BIA: Belize ($400,000); Benin ($500,000); Bulgaria ($9.85 million); Central Africa Republic ($150,000); Eastern Caribbean (Barbados, Antigua & Barbuda, Dominica, and Saint Vincent & the
Grenadines) ($2.7 million); Ecuador ($15.65 million); Fiji ($200,000); Lesotho ($125,000); Malta ($1.25 million); Niger ($200,000); Paraguay ($300,000); Samoa ($150,000); Serbia & Montenegro ($500,000); Slovakia ($8.95 million); Uruguay ($1.45 million)
Attached is a table stating which countries have signed BIAs, which have refused and the funding at stake. Also, attached is a report detailing how U.S. priorities have been jeopardized by the administration's BIA campaign.
The ICC will hold individuals accountable for acts of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity that occurred after July 1, 2002.
The World Federalist Association coordinates the Washington Working Group on the International Criminal Court, composed of legislative and governmental affairs offices of thirty American non-governmental organizations committed to the cause of the International Criminal Court (ICC). The WICC supports and provides materials and information for education and advocacy about the Court. For more information, visit http://www.wfa.org/wicc.html.
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