anuary 22, 2001
Dear friend of liberty,
The gavel hits. Its piercing crack commands the room. History is made.
The International Criminal Court (ICC) is now in session -- and our
country will never be the same.
"In July of 1998, 120 nations met in Rome and voted to endorse an
international criminal court. According to its own terms, when the
treaty is ratified by 60 nations, it will be capable of exerting
universal jurisdiction over every human being on the planet. This type
of criminal court has been on the wish list of the United Nations since
1947." -- Dr. James Hirsen, 1/5/01
"Once created, the international court will give the U.N. the mechanism
it needs to enforce its global 'laws' against American citizens. All
Americans concerned with our sovereignty as a nation should be very
alarmed by this latest development." -- Congressman Ron Paul, 1/8/01
"In short, the treaty gives the ICC the right to try and imprison U.S.
citizens, including our military and other government officers, even
[if] we have refused to sign it, let alone ratify it." -- former
Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger, 7/3/00
"On the International Criminal Court treaty, 'the [Defense] Department's
position has been clear,' a Pentagon official said. 'We were against
signing it and still are.'" -- Washington Post, 1/1/01
"Casey [Lee A. Casey, a former Justice Department official who
specializes in international law] said he opposes the creation of the
permanent International Criminal Court under the auspices of the United
Nations because he believes its powers are too extensive, and could
subject American citizens to trial without allowing them the rights and
protections they are guaranteed by the Constitution." -- Washington
Post, 1/1/01
"National sovereignty, which means that Americans are answerable to no
one but their own government and their own laws, should never be
compromised. The creation of a permanent, international war-crimes
tribunal certainly would compromise the national sovereignty of every
country on Earth." -- Charley Reese, 1/11/01
The Liberty Committee is indeed very alarmed by the International
Criminal Court. According to recent press reports, President Bush is
alarmed also. Today, The Liberty Committee is launching a nationwide
petition drive asking President Bush to rescind the signature of the
United States to the International Criminal Court treaty that former
President Clinton authorized on December 31, 2000.
To complete the on-line petition, go to
http://www.thelibertycommittee.org. Please ask family and friends to do
the same. There is a printable version of the petition that we ask you
to print, copy and distribute to people who don't use the Internet. All
completed and received petitions, on-line and printed, will be presented
to the White House.
The International Criminal Court will consider itself to be formally and
officially established after only 60 of the world's 161 countries ratify
the Rome Statute of the ICC. As of today, 27 countries have ratified
the treaty. The ICC needs just 33 more ratifying countries, from
among the 112 which have signed but not yet ratified, to claim
jurisdiction over all 161 countries and their citizens.
"It is my fervent hope that ...a large majority of United Nations Member
States will have signed and ratified [the ICC treaty], so that the Court
will have unquestioned authority and the widest possible jurisdiction."
-- U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, 7/18/98
"Only hours before the Dec. 31 [2000] deadline, Bill Clinton gave the
United Nations its most significant victory so far in its relentless
quest for global governance: the International Criminal Court."
-- Henry Lamb, 1/3/01
Supporters of the ICC have worked for years to establish this new world
court. It is now time for us to do our work. Please sign our petition
and ask others to do the same.
Kent Snyder
The Liberty Committee
http://www.thelibertycommittee.org
