U.S. Sanctions Top International Criminal Prosecutor In Response To War Crimes Probe

TOPLINE

The Trump administration retaliated against the International Criminal Court’s top prosecutor on Wednesday announcing sanctions against her and a senior official,  the latest attack on the court which in June announced investigations into possible war crimes committed in Afghanistan by American troops.

KEY FACTS

Key Background

The ICC has global jurisdiction, and only intervenes when national authorities cannot or will not prosecute. It can only deal with crimes committed after its creation by the Rome Treaty, and has automatic jurisdiction only for crimes committed on the territory of a state that ratified the treaty, by a citizen of a member state, or when referred a case by the United Nations Security Council. President Bill Clinton signed the Rome Treaty, but it was never ratified by Congress, and presidents since have opposed ratification. Many U.S. allies are member states including the U.K., Germany, Japan and France. China, India and Pakistan are among the nations who refused to sign the treaty, while some countries, including Russia, Israel and Iran, have signed the treaty but not ratified it.

Chief Critic

In June, the ICC called U.S. sanctions against court officials “an unacceptable attempt to interfere with the rule of law and the Court’s judicial proceedings. 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.”

Key Quote

“This should be a 5 alarm fire for the UN,” Mark Leon Goldberg, the editor of the UN Dispatch newsletter, said on Twitter. “It’s one small step from imposing sanctions against top @WHO officials as part of Trump’s campaign to shift blame for his handling of COVID-19.”

Tangent

Pompeo confirmed the U.S. would not be joining an international effort to find a Covid-19 vaccine, because the World Health Organization, which the administration has blamed for the spread of the virus, is involved.

Further reading

International Criminal Court officials sanctioned by US (BBC)

US imposes sanctions on top international criminal court officials (The Guardian)

Why the Trump administration is sanctioning a top international court (Vox)