The International Criminal Court must step up to ensure its survival in the wake of US sanctions on ICC amid a tribunal over an Afghan war crimes probe, experts said Friday.
Happening today: President @realDonaldTrump is signing an executive order to "authorize economic sanctions on employees of the International Criminal Court (ICC) for pursuing investigations into U.S. military and intelligence personnel at Russia’s behest." https://t.co/qTKEBMjMll
— The White House 45 Archived (@WhiteHouse45) June 11, 2020
Trump’s administration on Thursday unleashed an unprecedented onslaught against what it branded a “kangaroo court”, subjecting ICC officials to asset freezes and travel bans if they target US personnel.
The move escalates long-standing US opposition to The Hague-based court, which is battling its own poor track record of convictions, lack of support from the world’s largest powers and internal disputes over pay.
But analysts and rights groups urged the under-fire ICC — set up in 2002 to prosecute the world’s worst crimes — to continue its work with renewed vigour if it wants to cement its legitimacy.
“I believe that the future of the court depends on its willingness to prosecute the ‘hard cases’ involving powerful countries like the United States, Israel, Russia and the United Kingdom,” William Schabas, international criminal law professor at Leiden University, told AFP.
“For too long its work has been directed at developing countries and pariah states. Delivering equal justice for all means that it can tackle the strong as well as the weak.”
Trump imposes US sanctions on ICC
President Donald Trump on Thursday authorized sanctions against any official at the International Criminal Court who investigates US troops, ramping up pressure to stop its case into alleged war crimes in Afghanistan.
In an executive order, Trump said the United States would block US property and assets of anyone from The Hague-based tribunal involved in probing or prosecuting US troops.
“We cannot — we will not — stand by as our people are threatened by a kangaroo court,” Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in a statement to reporters.
The International Criminal Court recently announced it was looking into war crimes allegations against the U.S. in Afghanistan.
Now, the Trump administration is pushing back with an executive order targeting ICC staff.https://t.co/fB0RdEaSdl
— NPR (@NPR) June 11, 2020
“I have a message to many close allies around the world — your people could be next, especially those from NATO countries who fought terrorism in Afghanistan right alongside of us.”
The court responded by stating that its president O-Gon Kwon “rejects measures taken against ICC,” calling them “unprecedented” and saying they “undermine our common endeavor to fight impunity and to ensure accountability for mass atrocities.”
US Attorney General Bill Barr alleged, without giving detail, that Russia and other adversaries of the United States have been “manipulating” the court.
Using Trump’s “America First” language, Barr said the administration was trying to bring accountability to a global body.
“This institution has become, in practice, little more than a political tool employed by unaccountable international elites,” he said.
US sanctions on ICC are unprecedented: experts
The United States — like Russia, China, Israel, Syria and a number of other countries — is not a member of the ICC, and its opposition to the court is longstanding.
In 2002 the US Congress even passed the so-called “Hague Invasion Act” allowing the US president to authorise military force to free any US personnel held by the ICC — in theory making an invasion of Dutch shores a possibility.
But the Trump administration has now gone further, preemptively targeting the court over any attempt to prosecute US personnel over alleged war crimes in Afghanistan, or its ally Israel over the situation in the Palestinian territories.
Read more: US Generals depressed: ICC to investigate Afghan war crimes
US Attorney General Bill Barr said Thursday’s steps were just the first against a “corrupt” institution that he accused, without giving evidence, of being manipulated by Russia.
Personal sanctions by Washington are “unprecedented,” said Carsten Stahn, programme director at Leiden University’s Grotius Centre for International Legal Studies in The Hague.
“They may complicate the investigations and seek to discredit not only individuals but the institution as such. It is thus important that other states speak up clearly to support the independence of the court,” Stahn told AFP.
Rights groups too have called on the ICC’s 123 member states to reaffirm its support for the tribunal, a court of last resort for war crimes and crimes against humanity if countries were unwilling or unable to prosecute suspects themselves.
“It is now upon ICC member states to translate their statements of support into action,” said Amal Nassar, the International Federation for Human Rights’ representative at the ICC.
“This includes full cooperation with the court in its investigations, adequate resources, and a clear signal that ICC staff, their families, human rights defenders and legal professionals can count on their support and protection,” Nassar said.
Wave of solidarity with ICC
But the virulent US opposition against the ICC might have a counter-productive effect, Stahn said.
“Curiously, the US political attacks may backfire in the sense that they may create a new wave of solidarity at a time where the ICC is undergoing internal reform efforts,” he said.
Read more: Will ICC try US led forces for war crimes in Afghanistan?
Its governing body, the Assembly of States Parties, in particular “is now asked more than ever to reaffirm the core principles of the ICC,” said Stahn.
Stahn however said he did not believe the sanctions would threaten the court’s existence.
The ICC has started a new set of prosecutions which included the surrender of Ali Kushayb, a Janjaweed militiaman accused of war crimes committed in Sudan’s Darfur region in 2003-2004.
“In some situations, ICC investigations may also serve US interests,” he said.
US sanctions on ICC condemned by the Court
The International Criminal Court (ICC) on Thursday hit back at a decision by US President Donald Trump to authorise sanctions against any official investigating American troops over alleged war crimes in Afghanistan.
Trump said earlier that the United States would block US property and assets of anyone from The Hague-based tribunal involved in probing or prosecuting US troops.
Read more: Philippines tells UN it will quit ICC
“These attacks constitute an escalation and an unacceptable attempt to interfere with the rule of law and the Court’s judicial proceedings,” the court said in a statement.
After a long-running legal process, the ICC said in March that an investigation into the Afghan war could go ahead.
The Trump administration has been livid over the possibility of a probe into atrocities in Afghanistan, America’s longest-running war.
But the ICC said the “unprecedented” sanctions “undermine our common endeavour to fight impunity and to ensure accountability for mass atrocities”.
The court added: “An attack on the ICC also represents an attack against the interests of victims of atrocity crimes, for many of whom the Court represents the last hope for justice.”
AFP with additional input by GVS News Desk
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