Just as we prepare to celebrate the tenth anniversary of International Justice Day and the adoption of the International Criminal Court's (ICC) Rome Statute, ICC Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo is seeking an arrest warrant for Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir.

President Bashir, accused of crimes against humanity and genocide in Darfur, is the first Head of State ever to be indicted by a permanent international judicial body. This is a time to celebrate -- and a time to spread the word about the importance of this critical step toward an era in which no one, not even the most powerful government officials, are above the law.

But this is no time to be complacent. Seven years of assault on the Court by the Bush administration and Congress have left the U.S.-ICC relationship in tatters. Instead of maintaining America's leadership role in international justice and human rights by assisting the ICC, our government has undermined the Court and made it more difficult to bring the world's worst criminals to justice.

This is a watershed moment for the ICC. The Court needs American support more than ever and now is the time for the U.S. to reaffirm its commitment to international justice and distance itself from defiant regimes like that in Sudan. On this day, the tenth anniversary of the adoption of the Court's Rome Statute, it is important to share our hopes for the ICC with others in our respective communities. It's easy -- just follow these three easy steps to write a letter to the editor of your local newspaper.

1. Select a newspaper (or a few).

2. In each newspaper, find a recent article on Darfur, Congo or another humanitarian crisis (you'll have to read the paper yourself to find one).

3. Refer to this article in a personalized letter. We've included a sample letter, but please do take the time to personalize it -- any newspaper that receives at least two identical letters will not publish them!