The UN Security Council has voted unanimously to improve protection for UN staff and other aid workers after the US insisted members drop a reference to the International Criminal Court it opposes.
The Mexican-drafted resolution, co-sponsored by France, Germany, Russia, Bulgaria and Syria, was first circulated in April and then taken out of mothballs after the bombing of the UN headquarters on August 19th that killed 23 people and wounded many others.
It urges nations to prosecute perpetrators of crimes against UN workers and those from other relief or non-governmental organizations engaged in humanitarian efforts. It says states should adopt laws ensuring that violence against humanitarian workers is treated as a war crime.
UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan told the council that the "vicious attack" on UN headquarters shows what to expect "if we allow the impression to continue gaining ground that international workers are a soft and cost-free target."
"Impunity for those who commit such unpardonable crimes cannot stand," Mr Annan said. "There must be action," through prosecution by states of those responsible for such crimes.
While there was little disagreement on the purpose of the resolution, a mention in the document of the new International Criminal Court drew objections from the Bush administration, which vehemently opposes the Netherlands-based tribunal.
Mexico and its allies dropped specific mention of the court, whose statutes spell out what a war crime is. But they then faced US objections about defining war crimes, particularly if an aid worker is injured unintentionally. At one point, Mexico and France rejected an amendment by Germany, a co-sponsor, that the United States had accepted. Mexico then rewrote a longer version.
Diplomats said underlying debates on the resolution was bitterness among some council members over US positions on Iraq as well as on the International Criminal Court, with France and Mexico especially challenging the United States.
The Bush administration opposes the new court, set up to try perpetrators of the world's most heinous crimes, as an infringement of US sovereignty and a potential venue for frivolous lawsuits against US officials abroad. The 91 nations that have ratified the treaty argue the court has enough safeguards to protect nations against politically motivated prosecutions.