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24 November 2003

U.S. Allows Continuing Military Aid to Six ICC Signatories

Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Slovakia, Slovenia affected

President Bush has issued waivers allowing continuing military aid to six countries that signed the Rome Statute establishing the International Criminal Court (ICC) but have not subsequently signed Article 98 agreements exempting U.S. personnel from war crimes prosecution.

Bush released a memorandum for the secretary of state on November 21 waiving the prohibition on military assistance (as called for in the American Service Members' Protection Act of 2002) to Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Slovakia, and Slovenia, "with respect to military assistance for only certain specific projects that I have decided are needed to support the process of integration of these countries into NATO, or to support Operation ENDURING FREEDOM or Operation IRAQI FREEDOM."

The aim of Article 98 agreements, as the Bush administration has explained previously, is to ensure that American personnel stationed abroad will not be subject to being tried before an entity that the United States does not recognize.

Following is the text of the memorandum:

(begin text)

MEMORANDUM FOR THE SECRETARY OF STATE

THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
November 21, 2003

Presidential Determination No. 2004-09

MEMORANDUM FOR THE SECRETARY OF STATE

SUBJECT: Waiving Prohibition on United States Military Assistance to Parties to the Rome Statute Establishing the International Criminal Court

Consistent with the authority vested in me by section 2007 of the American Servicemembers' Protection Act of 2002 (the "Act"), title II of Public Law 107-206 (22 U.S.C. 7421 et seq.), I hereby:

- Determine that it is important to the national interest of the United States to waive the prohibition of section 2007(a) with respect to Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Slovakia, and Slovenia, with respect to military assistance for only certain specific projects that I have decided are needed to support the process of integration of these countries into NATO, or to support Operation ENDURING FREEDOM or Operation IRAQI FREEDOM; and

- Waive that prohibition with respect to the projects referred to above for these countries.

You are authorized and directed to report this determination and the accompanying Memorandum of Justification, prepared by my Administration, to the Congress, and to arrange for publication of this determination in the Federal Register.

GEORGE W. BUSH

(end text)

(Distributed by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)

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