President Donald Trump has signed an executive order sanctioning the International Criminal Court (ICC), accusing the organization of engaging in \u201cillegitimate and baseless actions\u201d targeting the United States and its ally, Israel. <\/p>\n
The ICC, which prosecutes individuals for grave international crimes, has faced backlash from the US and Israel over its decision to issue arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former defense minister, Yoav Gallant, for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity during Israel\u2019s war against Hamas in Gaza. <\/p>\n
It also issued a warrant for Hamas official Mohammed Deif, whom Israel accused of being one of the masterminds of the\u202fOctober 7 attack. Hamas confirmed last month that Israel had killed him in an airstrike last year. <\/p>\n
So, what is the court, why has Trump sanctioned it and what effect will his decision have? <\/p>\n
Trump signed an executive order on Thursday placing economic and travel sanctions on people working on ICC investigations into citizens of the US and its allies. <\/p>\n
The US president said the court had \u201cabused its power by issuing baseless arrest warrants\u201d targeting Netanyahu and Gallant. Its actions, he claimed, \u201cset a dangerous precedent, directly endangering current and former US personnel\u201d and posed an \u201cunusual and extraordinary threat\u201d to national security. <\/p>\n
The ICC condemned Trump\u2019s decision and said it stands firmly behind its \u201cpersonnel and pledges to continue providing justice and hope to millions of innocent victims of atrocities across the world.\u201d <\/p>\n
The names of the sanctioned ICC personnel are not yet public, but those targeted \u2013 and their families \u2013 will not be able to enter the US. Their assets could also be frozen and their power to purchase property blocked. <\/p>\n
Trump also said he \u201cexpects our allies to oppose\u201d any ICC actions against the US and Israel, without giving further details. <\/p>\n
Located in The Hague in the Netherlands, the ICC investigates and prosecutes individuals for war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide and crimes of aggression against the territory of its member states, of which there are 125. Neither the US nor Israel are members. <\/p>\n
Just as a central bank is a lender of last resort, the ICC is a court of last resort, stepping in to prosecute crimes when national authorities are unable or unwilling to do so. <\/p>\n
Countries that have ratified the court\u2019s Rome Statute are obliged to arrest Netanyahu and Gallant if they set foot on their soil. Because the US \u2013 along with China, Russia and others \u2013 has not approved the statute, Netanyahu could travel freely to Washington, DC, this week, becoming the first foreign leader invited to the White House during Trump\u2019s second term. <\/p>\n
The ICC accepted Palestine as a member in 2015, giving it jurisdiction over international crimes that take place in Gaza. <\/p>\n
The ICC, which prosecutes individuals, is distinct from the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which prosecutes states. Last year, the ICJ ruled that Palestinians in Gaza have \u201cplausible rights to protection from genocide\u201d \u2013 rights to which Israel\u2019s offensive in the strip risked causing irreparable damage. The court also ordered Israel to immediately halt its offensive in the southern city of Rafah, which Israel ignored. <\/p>\n
Yes. In June 2020, towards the end of his first term, Trump sanctioned Fatou Bensouda, then the ICC\u2019s chief prosecutor, and another top court official, for pursuing an investigation into alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in Afghanistan by US armed forces, the CIA and the Taliban. <\/p>\n
The Trump administration then lambasted the \u201ckangaroo court,\u201d calling it \u201can unaccountable political institution masquerading as a legal body.\u201d <\/p>\n
Thursday\u2019s sanctions, however, are more broad-based, both in their justification and potential effects, experts have warned. <\/p>\n
As well as undermining the ICC symbolically, the practical implications of the new measures \u201chave the potential to cripple the court\u2019s work,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe court, in order to undertake its investigations, needs funding. It needs the cooperation of banks, of travel agents, of various businesses and third parties. If they have to fear sanctions from the US, that will have a significant effect,\u201d Dill added. <\/p>\n
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen also said the ICC must be able \u201cto freely pursue the fight against global impunity.\u201d <\/p>\n
The European Union, however, is not speaking with one voice. The Hungarian hard-right prime minister, Viktor Orban, said Trump\u2019s decision meant \u201cit\u2019s time for Hungary to review what we\u2019re doing in an international organization that is under US sanctions.\u201d <\/p>\n
The sanctions come after Trump welcomed Netanyahu to the White House. Having previously said he wants to \u201cclean out\u201d the Gaza Strip, Trump on Tuesday unveiled a plan for the US to \u201ctake over\u201d the territory, resettle the Palestinians living there and turn it into a new \u201criviera.\u201d <\/p>\n
The plan, which would amount to ethnic cleansing and violate international law, caused a global diplomatic storm, delighted many on the right wing of politics in Israel and horrified Palestinians. <\/p>\n
This, combined with the new sanctions, sends a signal that the US, under Trump, \u201cis moving further from being a supporter of international criminal justice to being a perpetrator of injustice,\u201d Dill said. \u201cThat is really worrisome.\u201d <\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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