24th June 1998

Desaparecidos, A Festering Wound

ROME.  The fate of the desaparecidos - political prisoners who "disappeared" after being arrested - continue to needle governments, negotiators and non-governmental organisations alike and pose a serious ethical dilemma to the international community.

Avoid Bosnia Tribunal's Pitfalls, UN Envoy Says

ROME.  The International Criminal Court (ICC) must go beyond the efforts of the UN tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda to prosecute top officials if it hopes to deter future atrocities, argued Bosnia's UN ambassador, Muhamed Sacirbey.

A Diplomatic Puzzle: What if the US Signs?

ROME.  For some diplomats at the Conference on the Establishment of an International Criminal Court (ICC), it is a hope; for others, a worry. But it lingers in the back of many minds: What would happen if the United States, despite its outspoken opposition to many of the guidelines currently being drawn up for an ICC, signs on to its statute afterward?

Report: ICC Needs $80 million a Year

ROME.   There is no clear-cut solution to the riddle of financing the International Criminal Court (ICC), but the best option might combine UN regular budget financing of the Court's base cost and special assessments voted by the UN General Assembly to pay for the cost of actual cases.

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