Saturday, March 12 2005 12:21 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

New York: The Bush Administration's decision to withdraw from a protocol governing diplomatic disputes has "violated" the rights of foreigners detained in America and could endanger US citizens held abroad, an international human rights watchdog has warned.

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) can hear disputes between countries that are parties to the Optional Protocol of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations, including cases brought by States on behalf of people detained in foreign countries who have been denied access to their nation's consular officials.

According to a decision by the Bush administration this week, the ICJ, or World Court, will henceforth have no power to hear cases brought by countries on behalf of detained non-citizens in the United States, the Human Rights Watch (HRW) noted.

Americans in the custody of foreign countries who have been denied access to their country's embassies will also not have access to the ICJ, it observed.

"This decision not only violates the rights of foreigners living in the United States, it could also endanger Americans abroad," said Jamie Fellner, Director of the US programme of HRW.

"It's a huge mistake for the United States, for practical reasons as well as legal and moral ones." The Vienna Convention on Consular Relations, a treaty, which the United States ratified in 1969, requires Governments to allow detained foreigners to meet representatives of their embassies.