International Human Rights

The year 2002 saw several substantive milestones in the development of international human rights law.' However, many developments in state practice from the United States and other countries suggested that some government officials were willing to compromise individual human rights in fighting the war on terror. The most important human rights development of 2002 was the long-anticipated creation of the International Criminal Court (ICC), providing a new forum in which to prosecute the most serious violations of human rights, including genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity.? The United States was one of only seven states to vote against the Rome Statute, but President Clinton had the United States sign the treaty on the eve of his departure from office. In an unprecedented act in international law, the Bush administration "withdrew" the U.S. signature on May 6, 2002.4 The United States also demanded that other nations enter into special agreements to exempt U.S. nationals from being placed on trial before that court. Additionally, in August, President Bush signed the American Servicemembers' Protection