U.S. Fails in Bid to Win Immunity for its Soldiers

The United States last week withdrew a motion it had before the United Nations Security Council to grant U.S. peacekeepers immunity from prosecution for war crimes for one year. UN Secretary General Koffi Annan is reported to have lobbied against the motion strongly, noting that after the exposure of widespread abuse of prisoners at the U.S.-controlled Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq, passing the motion would have irreparably damaged the UN's credibility.

The U.S. withdrew the motion after it became clear that despite intense lobbying efforts, they would not receive the necessary nine votes from Security Council members. According to a note issued by the U.S. State Department to embassies and published a few weeks ago in the Washington Post, European members of the council, led by France and Germany, were lobbying against the motion.

The Security Council voted last year 15-0 to grant the U.S. a year's immunity after the Americans threatened to suspend all peacekeeping operations. The U.S. has long argued that making U.S. soldiers subject to war crimes prosecution under the International Criminal Court would result politically motivated prosecutions. The Americans have so far negotiated 37 bilateral accords with countries - mainly smaller nations dependent on the U.S. for economic or military aid - granting U.S. peacekeepers immunity from prosecution - but the Americans realized a victory at the Security Council was impossible and withdrew their resolution as other countries, including traditional U.S. allies like Canada, requested an open debate on the issue. The American ambassador to the United Nations, James Cunningham, has said the U.S. may suspend its involvement in ongoing peacekeeping operations.