Two months before the presidential election in the United States, the administration of Donald Trump on Wednesday carried out its threat against one of the pet peeves of the American conservatives by imposing unprecedented economic sanctions on the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court. “Today we move from words to deeds“Said the chief of the American diplomacy Mike Pompeo,”because the ICC unfortunately continues to target Americans».
He announced the blacklisting of the United States of prosecutor Fatou Bensouda and Phakiso Mochochoko, director of the division of competence, complementarity and cooperation of the jurisdiction which sits in The Hague, Pays -Low. “Any individual or entity that will continue to materially assist these individuals is also liable to sanctions.Mike Pompeo warned at a press conference. “We will not tolerate illegitimate attempts by the ICC to bring Americans to its jurisdiction.»
Already engaged in an unprecedented offensive against the ICC, US President Donald Trump in June authorized economic sanctions against his officials to dissuade the jurisdiction from prosecuting US soldiers for their involvement in the conflict in Afghanistan.
Multilateralism hated
Wednesday’s announcement is the first materialization of this threat – Washington had previously banned court officials from entering the United States and revoked Fatou Bensouda’s US visa. “U.S. commitment to justice for worst-case victims continues to shamefully decline», Reacted on Twitter Balkees Jarrah, of the organization Human Rights Watch.
In June, the ICC deplored “an unprecedented series of attacksAgainst him, emphasizing his independence. “These attacks constitute an escalation and an unacceptable attempt to undermine the rule of law and the judicial procedures of the Court.She added. Washington is not angry with the appeal decision taken in March to allow an investigation into war crimes and crimes against humanity in Afghanistan despite opposition from the Trump administration.
The investigation desired by prosecutor Bensouda is aimed, among other things, at abuses allegedly committed by American soldiers in the country where the United States has been waging the longest war in its history since 2001. Allegations of torture have also been made against the CIA. The judges of the International Criminal Court had initially refused to authorize this investigation after a first unprecedented threat of sanctions from Washington, which is not a member of this court – unlike Kabul. The fierce opposition of the US government also concerns investigations “politically motivatedAgainst Israel, which may be the subject of war crimes investigations in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
The Court is governed by the Rome Statute, a treaty that entered into force in 2002 and has since been ratified by more than 120 countries. It is one of the main incarnations of multilateralism hated by President Trump and the sovereignist fringe of the American conservative camp. “Multilateralism for multilateralism, just to hang out in a room and chat, it doesn’t help», Lambasted Mike Pompeo, who is involved in the electoral campaign of the Republican billionaire for a second term in a way unprecedented for a secretary of state in office.
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