What are Bilateral Immunity Agreements (BIAs)?
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Bilateral immunity agreements (BIAs), also known as "Article 98"
agreements, prohibit countries from sending U.S. personnel to the International Criminal Court.
?U.S. personnel? includes U.S.
servicemembers, nationals, or employees of the U.S. government (past and
present, including non-national contractors).
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The term "Article 98 agreement"
refers to the provision of the Rome Statute establishing the International
Criminal Court that prohibits the Court from prosecuting someone located within an ICC
member state if doing so would cause the member state to violate the terms of
other bilateral or multilateral treaties to which it may be a party.
Since the summer of 2002, the Bush administration has
aggressively sought to conclude bilateral immunity agreements with every country
in the world. As of October 2005, Citizens for Global Solutions has been able to
verify that the United States has entered into BIAs with 97 countries. However,
of the 99 ICC member states, 49 have refused to sign a BIA because they believe
that doing so would breach their legal obligations under the Rome Statute. More
on the legal debate.
What happens if a country refuses to sign a BIA?
By refusing to sign a BIA, many U.S. allies lose their U.S. military aid
and are at risk of losing additional economic support funds. Countries are at risk of
losing U.S. aid because of two provisions attached to U.S. appropriations
legislation, the American Servicemembers? Protection Act (ASPA) and the Nethercutt
Amendment.
Have any countries received presidential waivers under
ASPA or Nethercutt?
Citizens for Global Solutions has not been able to verify the use of
presidential waivers under the Nethercutt provision. However, President Bush has
granted waivers to at least 32 ICC member states that receive U.S. military assistance
and have signed BIAs.
In late November 2003, President Bush partially waived the
sanctions for Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Slovenia and Slovakia, even
though all six have refused to sign BIAs. (All six have since become full
members of NATO and are fully exempt from the sanctions.) This still leaves more
than 20 U.S. allies without military assistance.
Which key U.S. allies are at risk of losing military or
economic support aid?
Among the countries whose assistance is being withheld are the following:
Latin American allies in the war on drugs,
including Peru, Ecuador, Paraguay,
Brazil, Venezuela, Costa Rica, and Uruguay.
The Balkan countries of Croatia and Serbia and Montenegro, which rely on U.S. military assistance to maintain stability and reform their armies.
Caribbean countries, whose hurricane disaster assistance is tied to the affected programs: Trinidad and Tobago, Barbados,
and St. Vincent and the Grenadines.
African allies with which the U.S. partners to
help maintain regional security, including South Africa, Kenya, Mali and Tanzania.
