Credit: icc.int /  Headquarters of the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague, Netherlands

By Gary Raynaldo       DIPLOMATIC TIMES

The International Criminal Court fired Friday back against President Trump authorizing economic sanctions against the war tribunal, saying the “attacks constitute an escalation and an unacceptable attempt to interfere with the rule of law.”   Yesterday,  Trump  signed an executive order allowing  the imposition of  sanctions and travel restrictions against ICC officials directly engaged in The Hague, Netherlands-based tribunal’s  efforts to investigate American military personnel for alleged war crimes in Afghanistan.  

“The International Criminal Court (“ICC” or “the Court”) expresses profound regret at the announcement of further threats and coercive actions, including financial measures, against the Court and its officials, made earlier today by the Government of the United States. The ICC stands firmly by its staff and officials and remains unwavering in its commitment to discharging, independently and impartially, the mandate bestowed upon it by the Rome Statute and the States that are party to it. These are the latest in a series of unprecedented attacks on the ICC, an independent international judicial institution, as well as on the Rome Statute system of international criminal justice, which reflects the commitment and cooperation of the ICC’s 123 States Parties, representing all regions of the world. They are announced with the declared aim of influencing the actions of ICC officials in the context of the Court’s independent and objective investigations and impartial judicial proceedings.”

-International Criminal Court statement  June 12, 2020

In November 2017, ICC  head prosecutor Fatou  Bensouda asked judges to open an investigation into alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by Afghan national security forces, Taliban and Haqqani network fighters, as well as U.S. forces and intelligence officials in Afghanistan since May 2003.   The ICC is seeking  to hold the U. S. accountable for alleged war crimes including torture of detainees by C.I.A. operatives at secret prisons known as “black sites.”   

“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.”

-ICC

ICC Probe An ‘Ideological Crusade Against American Service Members:  Pompeo

Secretary of State Michael Pompeo said the United States is extending and expanding visa restrictions for ICC officials directly engaged in those same investigations to include their family members.  “It gives us no joy to punish them.  But we cannot allow ICC officials and their families to come to the United States to shop and travel and otherwise enjoy American freedoms as these same officials seek to prosecute the defender of those very freedoms,” Pompeo said   The U.S. secretary of state characterized the ICC action  as an  “ideological crusade against American service members in seeking to investigate our brave warriors for alleged crimes arising from counterterrorism missions in Afghanistan.”