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31 December 2003

U.S. Reaches Article 98 Agreements with Four ICC Signatories

      Belize, Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Panama, Fiji affected
      President Bush has issued waivers allowing continuing military aid to four 
      countries that signed the Rome Statute establishing the International 
      Criminal Court (ICC) because they have signed Article 98 agreements 
      exempting U.S. personnel from war crimes prosecution. 
      Bush released a memorandum for the secretary of state on December 30 
      determining that Belize, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, 
      Panama, and Fiji have each "entered into an agreement with the United 
      States pursuant to Article 98 of the Rome Statute preventing the 
      International Criminal Court from proceeding against U.S. personnel 
      present in such countries" and "waiving the prohibition of section 2007(a) 
      of the Act with respect to these countries for as long as such agreement 
      remains in force."
      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)
      Office of the Press Secretary 
      (Crawford, Texas)
      December 30, 2003
      Presidential Determination No. 2004-17
      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 Belize, Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Panama, 
      and Fiji have each entered into an agreement with the United States 
      pursuant to Article 98 of the Rome Statute preventing the International 
      Criminal Court from proceeding against U.S. personnel present in such 
      countries; and
      · Waive the prohibition of section 2007(a) of the Act with respect to 
      these countries for as long as such agreement remains in force.
      You are authorized and directed to report this determination to the 
      Congress, and to arrange for its publication 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)