THE HAGUE, March 12, 2003 (LifeSiteNews.com) - LifeSite has discovered that the three top judges of the International Criminal Court all have pro-abortion ties. Canadian Philippe Kirsch was elected the President (Chief Justice) of the 18 judge panel and Akua Kuenyehia of Ghana and Elizabeth Odio Benito of Costa Rica were elected vice-presidents.

Philippe Kirsch, the ICC's President chaired the effort to install the ICC. In the process Kirsch used procedural abuses and manipulation to push a radical feminist/pro-abortion ideology for the court. Gwen Landolt of REAL Women Canada, who attended the initial ICC conferences, relates that one such incident occurred on Sunday, July 5th 1998 when Kirsch held a private and secret meeting for 30 carefully selected delegates in the Canadian embassy in Rome. The purpose of the meeting was to indoctrinate the delegates on the feminist agenda, and to reach a secret agreement on the proposed court. The chosen few at this meeting were addressed by Rhonda Copelon, head of the radically pro-abortion Women's Caucus. (See: http://www.realwomenca.com/newsletter/1998_July_Aug/article_1.html)

Elizabeth Odio Benito was found to be on the list of the advisory council to the international pro-abortion/feminist group Equality Now. Benito is listed on the advisory council along with well-known abortion proponent Gloria Steinem. (See: http://www.equalitynow.org/reports/annualreport_2000.pdf ) Moreover, Benito was not nominated for her post as ICC judge in the normal process. Costa Rican President Dr. Abel Pacheco, a strong pro-lifer rejected appeals to nominate Benito. However, the international feminist movement engineered Benito's nomination by the President of Panama. (See: http://lists.partners-intl.net/pipermail/women-east-west/2002-September/001905.html and http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2002/sep/02090502.html )

Akua Kuenyehia was a member of the United Nations CEDAW Committee which regularly badgers countries which have signed on to the CEDAW (Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women) treaty to legalize abortion. Moreover, Kuenyehia also appears on a list of Program Consultants for Equality Now, the same international pro-abortion /feminist group Benito was connected to. (See: http://www.equalitynow.org/reports/annualreport_1994-95.pdf )

Dr. Richard G. Wilkins, Professor of Law at Brigham Young University, a leading authority on the ICC, told LifeSite last year that while the ICC claims to consider only "genocide," "war crimes," and "crimes against humanity," the definitions of those terms has been left so vague as to be open to virtually any interpretation. Professor Wilkins, former Assistant to the US Solicitor General, said the ICC could eventually be used to try "the Pope or other religious leaders" since issues such as abortion and homosexuality would inevitably fall within the ICC's jurisdiction. (See: http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2002/feb/02021201.html )

With the inauguration of the International Criminal Court's 18 judges complete and the reception of some 200 claims for adjudication, the International Criminal Court (ICC) is well underway. One hold-up, the selection of the prosecutor, is set to be resolved after the new nomination period for the prosecutor which begins March 24 and ends April 4.
http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2003/mar/03031201.html