*EPF306 12/31/2003
Text: U.S. Reaches Article 98 Agreements with Four ICC Signatories
(Belize, Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Panama, Fiji affected) (360)

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

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(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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