NEW YORK -- In recent years regional courts have been set up in Europe and the Americas to deal with the most serious human rights abuses committed by governments. International "ad hoc" criminal tribunals have been set up to deal with atrocities and massive killings committed in the former Yugoslavia, Rwanda and other places. A number of international treaties now seek to ensure that torturers do not escape responsibility for the worst of these abuses. The United States should not only welcome but also positively contribute to these international legal developments.
Ninety countries have now set up a permanent International Criminal Court. The job of the ICC is to be complemented by national courts that, under the rubric of "universal jurisdiction," have become increasingly vocal in extraditing, seeking to extradite, or expressing a willingness to try individuals who have committed the worst human rights abuses, no matter where those atrocities took place.
The U.S. has refused to join the international human rights judicial system set up in the Americas. The Bush administration has also been engaged in a worldwide crusade against the ICC, pressuring member countries to the ICC into agreeing, under penalty of losing U.S. aid, not to cooperate with any ICC prosecution of American citizens.