State Department Lists Countries Who Have Signed Article 98 Agreements
Following is the official answer to a question taken at the June 12 regular State Department briefing:
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE Office of the Spokesman June 12, 2003
Question Taken at June 12, 2003 Daily Press Briefing
COUNTRIES WHO HAVE SIGNED ARTICLE 98 AGREEMENTS WITH THE UNITED STATES
Question: Is there a secret list of countries who have signed Article 98 agreements with the United States and what
countries have signed the agreement?
Answer: A total of 38 countries have publicly announced that they have concluded Article 98 or Non-Surrender Agreements
with the United States.
The countries are: Uganda, Romania, Israel, East Timor, the Marshall Islands, Tajikistan, Palau, Mauritania, the
Dominican Republic, Uzbekistan, Honduras, Micronesia, Afghanistan, the Gambia, El Salvador, Sri Lanka, India, Nepal,
Djibouti, Tuvalu, Bahrain, Georgia, Nauru, Azerbaijan, Rwanda, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Tonga, Sierra
Leone, the Maldives, Gabon, Ghana, Madagascar, Albania, Bhutan, Philippines, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bolivia, and
Thailand.
Several other countries have signed agreements but have asked us not to identify them as signers. We are respecting
their wishes.
We will continue our efforts to conclude these agreements with as many countries as possible. We seek to protect
American citizens and non-U.S. citizens serving in the U.S. Armed Forces from the potential danger of being tried by a
court that lacks sufficient safeguards against politically motivated prosecutions and was established outside the UN
system by a treaty to which we are not a party.
The United States remains committed to justice, the practice of the rule of law, and full accountability for war crimes,
crimes against humanity, and genocide. As a sovereign nation, the United States accepts the responsibility to
investigate and prosecute its own citizens for such offenses should they occur.