Country Watch
men injured in the 1987 attack on the warship USS Stark. In return, the Settlement Agreement provides that Iraq will be immune from suit in U.S. courts from claims arising from these same incidents.
The U.S.-Iraq Claims Settlement Agreement is the result of careful and extensive negotiations. The fact that Iraq finalized the agreement dem- onstrates its commitment to resolving the harm done by Saddam Hussein’s regime. Iraq has proven that it is a new government that will take accountability for the country’s past. Its efforts signify a substantial step towards improving Iraq’s relations with world governments and affirm Iraq’s dedication to establishing its new order.
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Saddam Hussein was the President of Iraq from 1979 to 2003. He was recognized worldwide as a brutal dictator, and during his time in power he oppressed political dissent, massacred civilians, prosecuted religious minorities, and instigated wars with Iran, Kuwait and their allies. After Iraq invaded Kuwait in 1990, the United States decid- ed to take action; it formed an international coali- tion to free Kuwait and entered the war. Many American soldiers fought in this Gulf War and many were killed. The Iraqi government commit- ted numerous war crimes and American nation- als were captured, tortured, and held prisoner by Saddam’s forces. Even after the war ended, atrocities continued to be committed by his re- gime. On May 17, 1987, an Iraqi aircraft fired mis- siles at the USS Stark. The attack killed 37 U.S. servicemen and injured 21 others. Saddam Hus- sein later apologized, and claimed that the inci- dent was an accident. Saddam’s rule came to an end in December 2003, when he was captured during the Iraq War (2003-2010), by the United States and the United Kingdom.
In 2003, the United States filed suit against Iraq on behalf of the U.S. nationals harmed in the first Gulf War and U.S. nationals injured in the attack on the USS Stark. The new government of
Iraq agreed to settle, and signed the Settlement Agreement on September 2, 2010. The Agree- ment covers only criminal acts committed before October 7, 2004 and only claims that were filed in U.S. federal and state courts. Now that the set- tlement agreement has been finalized, no future claims may be filed, all final judgments rendered must be vacated, and all claims—including those judgments which are still subject to review— must be terminated.
The Department of State is now establishing a system for eligible U.S. nationals to apply for the compensation of their claims. Claims may be referred to the Foreign Claims Settlement Com- mission for adjudication, or referred to some other mechanism to process applications for compensation.
* Submitted by Christine Long
ICC Defendant Jean-Pierre Bemba Attempts to Run for President of the DRC from his Dutch Detention Cell
Jean-Pierre Bemba, who stands trial at the Inter- national Criminal Court (ICC) charged with crimes against humanity and war crimes, has recently become a presidential candidate in the upcoming elections of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). According to ICC officials, presidential cam- paigning from within the ICC’s detention center is unprecedented in the court’s history. Bemba’s de- fense attorney, Nick Kaufman, has said there was no language in the Rome Statute that prohibits his candidacy.
Bemba, a Congolese business man and politician, is alleged to have commanded a militia that raped, murdered and tortured civilians in the Central Af- rican Republic in 2002 and 2003. After losing in a 2006 presidential election in the DRC, Bemba went into exile, and was later arrested while on a visit in Belgium in May 2008. He was then trans- ferred to the ICC detention center in The Hague
ILSA Quarterly » volume 20 » issue 1 » October 2011
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