72 Countries Protest US Sanctions Against ICC Officials At the UN

By Staff, Agencies

Following an initiative proposed by Germany, 72 countries at the United Nations on Monday denounced US sanctions targeting two officials serving the International Criminal Court [ICC].

Since the court's creation, Washington refused to recognize the authority of the ICC, a special multilateral court set up to try genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity cases.

However, on September 2, the government of US President Donald Trump took the unprecedented step of sanctioning chief ICC prosecutor Fatou Bensouda, along with another senior ICC official.

"We reconfirm our unwavering support for the Court as an independent and impartial judicial institution," read a joint declaration signed by countries that include traditional US allies such as Australia, Canada, Britain and France.

The signatories, all from countries that signed the Rome Statute that set up the ICC, vowed "to preserve its integrity and independence undeterred by any measures or threats against the Court, its officials and those cooperating with it."

Sanctions, the declaration read, “are a tool to be used against those responsible for the most serious crimes, not against those seeking justice.”

"Any attempt to undermine the independence of the Court should not be tolerated."

The joint statement "marks a stark rebuttal of Washington's unprecedented use of sanctions seeking to undermine the work of the ICC," said Richard Dicker with Human Rights Watch.

Based in The Hague and starting operations in 2002, the ICC earlier this year opened a war crimes probe into US military personnel in Afghanistan.