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Stonewalling the ICC (11/02)
With the stroke of a pen on Aug. 5, President Andrés Pastrana made Columbia the 77th country (out of 120 signatory countries) to ratify the International Criminal Court (ICC) treaty. Known as the Rome Statute, the world tribunal acquired its 60th endorsing nation-state earlier this year. That allowed the tribunal to commence its jurisdiction on July 1 as the first permanent court capable of investigating and bringing to justice individuals worldwide who commit crimes of concern to the international community. It is scheduled to hold its first official meeting in September.