Govt should not accede to US demands - Minority

Accra, Oct. 29, GNA - The Minority in Parliament on Wednesday said any decision on Ghana's part to enter into a bilateral arrangement with the United States whereby Ghana may not surrender any citizen of the US, who may have committed any crime recognisable under the Rome Statute amounted to a rejection of the very foundations of that Statute. It said the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court (ICC) was founded on the principle of rejection of impunity in matters relating to genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and the crime of aggression.

"Ghana in acceding to the Rome Statue took a principled stand against these crimes, which are now recognised as crimes against international law and humanitarian law. Principle is indivisible; it is either wholly kept or wholly abandoned", the Minority said.

The Minority in a statement was reacting to a Cabinet decision to get Parliament to ratify an agreement between the Governments of Ghana and the United States regarding the surrender of US citizens and foreign contractors to the ICC.

It explained that because of certain US concerns over the structure and jurisdiction of the ICC, it had decided to enter into bilateral agreements with a number of countries with specific reference to the non-surrender of its citizens and foreign contractors to face charges under the jurisdiction of the ICC.

By that, the Minority said it believed that some bait was being dangled before the ratifying countries.

It said the US had made it quite explicit that the failure of any country to ratify the agreement would cause sanctions to be applied against the defaulting country, specifically the withdrawal of military assistance.

The statement said as indicated in the memo to Parliament by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, it was the prospect of loosing such military assistance that was propelling the desire of Government to ratify the agreement.

It said for developing countries seeking assistance from the US, this could pose quite a dilemma and that some African countries like Niger, Kenya and Benin had opted to forgo whatever military assistance the US was withholding in order to maintain their national dignity and uphold the principles of international justice.

The statement said that only last weekend, at the Africa Legal AID Conference hosted by Ghana and attended by a host of international legal experts including judges of the ICC and International Criminal Tribunals, a declaration was issued that called on African States to desist from undermining the efficacy of the ICC by entering into agreements that oust the jurisdiction of the Court and the exercise of universal jurisdiction by national courts.

They urged those that had entered into such agreements to revoke them, as they were essentially illegitimate and in violation of established international legal norms and principles.

The statement said that in the case of Ghana, there were other weighty and compelling reasons that should lead the country to reject the agreement.

"One important consideration is that the Rome Statute has been born out of a global struggle spearheaded by the UN, whose Secretary-General, a Ghanaian, counts it as one of the highpoints of his achievements in office.

"Furthermore, the First Vice-President of the International Criminal Court, Professor Akua Kuenyehia is also a Ghanaian and that fact alone ought to move us as a nation to uphold in its entirety the jurisdiction of the Court and reject any manipulations that subvert its jurisdiction."

The Minority said: "It will be the hallmark of double standards for Ghana to ratify the Rome Statutes that established the International Criminal Court, nominate its Vice-President and turn around to ratify an agreement that obviously undermines the integrity of the Court.

"We feel disappointed that Government is yielding to the US offer because of the financial inducement being offered", the statement said.