JURIST Supported by the University of Pittsburgh  Hotline -
January 2010 Archives   US participation in ICC review
conference indicates new supportive policy January 30, 2010
12:01 PM ET  John Washburn and Matthew Heaphy [Convener and
Deputy Convener, The American NGO Coalition for the ICC
(AMICC)]: "According to the JURIST report about Ambassador
Stephen Rapp's January 28 speech at the University of Pittsburgh
Law School, he made it clear that the US would not ratify the
Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court in the
foreseeable future. This is not surprising since the Obama
administration is still struggling to determine its ICC policy.
Indeed, given the years of US hostility to the Court under the
Bush administration and the lack of understanding of the ICC and
its work in Congress and among the American people, it will take
quite a while for a US president to decide to seek advice and
consent to ratify the Rome Statute.  Ratification of treaties in
the United States is extraordinarily challenging