NATO Maintains Peacekeeping Forces in Bosnia - 2002-07-02

NATO and U.S. officials have reiterated their commitment to maintaining 18,000 peacekeeping troops in Bosnia and Herzegovina. NATO officials announced this at their headquarters in Sarajevo, the capital of Bosnia, one day after the veto of the extension of the United Nations' 1,500 police mission in Bosnia. This action followed the refusal of the United Nations Security Council to grant immunity to American soldiers against the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court. Nevertheless, the U.S. agreed to extend the mandate of the 1,500 international police in Bosnia for another 72 hours to allow diplomats to reach a compromise on this issue. The Bush administration states that the provisions of the treaty establishing the permanent war crimes court do not protect American soldiers from politically motivated prosecutions. Additionally, the International Criminal Court, based in The Hague, Netherlands, has begun operations today as the first permanent legal authority to prosecute crimes such as genocide, widespread human rights violations, and war crimes. Former President Clinton had signed the treaty that established this court, but the Bush administration refuses to support it, claiming that the court would expose U.S. forces and citizens to politically motivated prosecutions.