24.09.2003 (By Alfredo Castro, ANNCOL Colombia) An accord signed between the Colombian and US governments has exempted US nationals working in Colombia from prosecution before the United Nations International Criminal Court (ICC). The US threatened to cut off aid to Colombia should they not agree to the demand and provide adequate guarantees that US officials would not be handed over to the court.

According to the Colombian Foreign Minister, this treaty applies to some 1,500 U.S. personnel in Colombia, including state department officials and US Special Forces training Colombian troops.

The new agreement now puts Colombia among the 40 countries that have been forced to sign such accords with the US after threats to cut off aid and other benefits were made. The US had stopped million in assistance to 34 countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America after they failed to meet a July 1 deadline to exempt American troops and other personnel from prosecution before the ICC. Colombia had million of military assistance frozen.

Lloyd Axworthy, the former Canadian foreign minister who was active in establishing the ICC and was visiting Bogotá when the new accord was announced, said that the Bush Administration is "trying to destroy the court and they're using these bilateral agreements, country by country, to erode the jurisdiction of the court." He went on to say that the new accord is a violation of the Statute of Rome by one of its members, in this case Colombia.