The handover of sovereignty to an Iraqi interim government on June 30 may not be the only reason U.S. troops stationed abroad could face problems after that day. On that same day, the UN Security Council resolution that currently shields them from prosecution by the International Criminal Court (ICC) is set to expire. Though a new coalition order authorizes immunity for U.S. forces in Iraq against "local, criminal, civil and administrative jurisdiction and from any arrest or detention other than by persons acting on behalf of their parent country," it does not protect U.S. servicemen from war crimes prosecution by the ICC.
A State Department official told HUMAN EVENTS that the U.S. delegation to the UN could not secure the nine Security Council votes needed to extend immunity for personnel whose nations of origin-like the U.S.-had not signed the Rome Statutes, which created the ICC.
