The Hague, The Netherlands.
The International Criminal Court (CPI) rejected on Friday the sanctions against the court announced by the president of United States, Donald trump, and called them “an unacceptable attempt to interfere with the rule of law.”
The court “firmly supports its personnel and its officials and remains firm in its commitment to fulfill, independently and impartially, the mandate conferred on it by the Rome Statute and the States that are part of it,” said the judicial institution. it’s a statement.
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Trump authorized hours earlier economic sanctions against ICC personnel and to extend visa restrictions against officials of the Hague Prosecutor’s Office dedicated to investigating US troops for the war in Afghanistan, in a new sign of rejection of the international tribunal.
These measures include blocking property that these officials may have under US jurisdiction.
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The White House announcement was made “with the stated objective of influencing the actions of ICC officials in the context of the investigations,” the court said.
The president of the Assembly of States Parties, the legislative body of the court, also rejected the sanctions and said in another statement that “they undermine the common effort to combat impunity and guarantee responsibility for mass atrocities.”
Likewise, he explained that he will convene for the next week an extraordinary meeting of the Bureau of the Assembly with the aim of renewing “the unbreakable commitment with the court” of the 123 States Parties.
Relationship between the Hague court and Washington
This episode is the latest in the difficult relationship between the Hague court and Washington, especially tense since the Prosecutor’s Office asked in November 2017 to open an investigation into the war in Afghanistan.
The judges initially denied the request, but an appeal court of the same court reversed that decision in March this year and gave the green light to the chief prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda, who has since been empowered to issue arrest warrants against suspects. .
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The Prosecutor’s summary examines alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in Afghanistan by troops by US troops, Taliban groups, and Afghan security forces.
The same document warns that there is a “reasonable basis” to believe that CIA members practiced torture against detainees at secret US intelligence centers located in Poland, Romania and Lithuania.
The United States does not accept the jurisdiction of the ICC, but both Afghanistan and the other three European countries under the magnifying glass of the Prosecutor’s Office are States Parties to the Rome Statute, the court’s founding letter.
The Hague court only has power to exercise its jurisdiction when the authorities of the country concerned do not carry out credible investigations into alleged war crimes or crimes against humanity.
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