Re: Collins: Remarks Before the NLF Annual Conference

Date: June 25, 2004

"Collins Says American Soldiers Should Not Be Tried
By An International Criminal Court

WASHINGTON, D.C. (June 24) - Georgia Congressman Mac Collins, a member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, today criticized the United States decision to forgo a renewal of a United Nations (UN) Security Council resolution that would exempt American soldiers from international prosecution.

   Basing his remarks on hearing morning news reports that he hoped were "wrong", Collins said, "I hope it is not true and that the media has made a big mistake. But the reports indicated that we have relented to the U.N., that our soldiers are subject to international criminal law because of actions in Iraq. Our soldiers are United States troops and not the U.N.'s. We have a system of military justice. If our soldiers have done anything wrong, they will be prosecuted by our military and not through an International Criminal Court. Prosecuting through an International Criminal Court is wrong." 

   Collins was speaking to the National League of Families, (a POW-MIA group's) 35th annual meeting in Washington.

   "We must not cede any of our nation's sovereignty over domestic judicial matters to an international body. Any action taken by the International Criminal Court (ICC) against a citizen or national of the United States shall be considered an offense against the laws of our nation," Collins said.

   None of the alleged U.S. actions in Iraq would have fallen under the International Criminal Court's jurisdiction as neither Iraq nor the United States signed on to the ICC treaty.

   The International Criminal Court is based in The Hague, Netherlands. It went into effect in 2003.

   The National League of Families is a non-partisan organization that continues to seek an accounting of missing American Prisoners of War (POW's) and Missing in Action (MIA's) service personnel from the Southeast Asia conflict."