U.S. rejection of international court faulted by Blair's wife

Published: 2003-11-18

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Just a day before President Bush went to London for a state visit, the wife of British Prime Minister Tony Blair criticized his administration's refusal to participate in the International Criminal Court. Cherie Booth, co-founder of a London law firm specializing in human rights and international law, spoke at a program on human rights at Georgetown University Nov. 17. Bush left the next day for a state visit to England. Booth said the concerns that led Bush to withdraw U.S. support for the International Criminal Court are "not well-founded." She spoke as part of a panel in a lecture series at the Jesuit-run university marking the 40th anniversary of "Pacem in Terris" ("Peace on Earth"), Pope John XXIII's encyclical on world peace. President Clinton had signed a treaty committing the United States to participation in the court. It was created through the United Nations as a permanent system for dealing with cases of war crimes, genocide and other gross violations of human rights, such as those handled in the Nuremberg trials after World War II.

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