Bush "unsigns" Rome Statute, formally withdrawing US intent to join the ICC

Undersecretary of State John Bolton sent a letter to UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan on May 6, 2002 notifying the UN that the United States had no intention of becoming a party to the Rome Statute, effectively rescinding Clinton's December 2000 signature. The action — nicknamed "unsigning" — was unprecedented in US treaty history. The Bush administration simultaneously pursued bilateral "Article 98 agreements" with other countries to prevent US nationals from being surrendered to the ICC.