Amnesty for U.S. citizens boosted

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NEW YORK -- The Bush administration has negotiated agreements protecting Americans from prosecution by the International Criminal Court with more than five dozen nations, knitting together a partial shield to protect U.S. citizens from politically motivated prosecutions.

As of this week, 68 governments have signed treaties with the United States promising not to surrender American soldiers, lawmakers or civilians to the court's jurisdiction. About half of these countries are parties to the ICC.

The so-called Article 98 agreements have outraged legal analysts who support the ICC. The pacts also have created rifts in the European Union; some governments in the bloc would like to sign them but cannot because of a negotiated common position in support of the court.

So sensitive is the issue in some countries that more than a dozen governments, including those of Egypt, Nigeria and Pakistan, have signed agreements but declined to announce that to their publics.

Other countries that signed such pacts in confidence include Kuwait, Morocco and Bangladesh, U.S. officials told The Washington Times.

The officials say the bilateral agreements are not an ironclad protection for U.S. citizens but are the best the Bush administration can do right now.

"It covers us in a lot of regions in the world," said John Bolton, undersecretary of state for arms control and international security. "There may be other protections we need to seek -- no one says the Article 98 agreements are all we need. But for now, that's what we're pursuing."

The two-page agreements -- named after Article 98 of the ICC treaty that provides for such exemptions -- essentially say that the other government will not turn over to the international court any American soldier, official, businessman, journalist, aid worker or other person accused of a war crime.

Some nations have sought, and received, a reciprocal assurance. But other nations that have signed on to the court statute feel they cannot request amnesty for their own citizens.