US announces economic sanctions against ICC officials

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The President has authorized economic sanctions and travel bans in the United States against officials of the International Criminal Court and officials involved in the Afghanistan and Palestine files, opened by prosecutor Fatou Bensouda. The sanctions also extend to their immediate family. 

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"  We can't just sit idly by while our guys are threatened by a bogus court - and we won't,  " said US Foreign Minister Mike Pompeo. "  First, we authorize the imposition of economic sanctions against ICC officials directly involved in the investigation of American or allied personnel without the permission of these allied countries, and against those who materially support these official activities. Sanctions will be established on a case-by-case basis against specific individuals or entities.  "

"  Second, the United States is extending its visa restrictions to those directly involved in these investigations, and these restrictions will also be applied to members of their families ," said the US secretary of state. It gives us no joy to punish them. But we cannot allow ICC officials and their families to come to the United States to consume, travel, in other words to enjoy American freedom when at the same time these same people want to prosecute those who defend these freedoms.  "

It is a group shot against the Court, its officials, its officials and its supporters, explains our correspondent in The Hague  Stéphanie Maupas . It aims to influence two files opened to the ICC: Afghanistan and the colonization of the Palestinian territories.

Threats since 2018

Threats from the Trump administration have been hanging over the court since the fall of 2018. They have not prevented the investigation of crimes committed by the US military and the CIA in Afghanistan.

The fear of a future investigation into the colonization of the Palestinian territories, seriously embarrasses Israel, Washington's ally. It is one of the obstacles to the project to annex the occupied Palestinian territories, for which the Trump administration has given the green light. In late May, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the court a "  strategic threat  " to the state of Israel. Trump has now made the ICC problem a "  national emergency  ."

Court dismisses sanctions

The ICC, for its part, deplored "  an unprecedented series of attacks  " against it, emphasizing its independence. "  These attacks constitute an escalation and an unacceptable attempt to undermine the rule of law and the court's judicial procedures  ," she added. The president of the assembly of ICC states parties, Judge O-Gon Kwon, previously rejected the sanctions, which "  hinder our common effort to fight impunity  ". Despite the firmness displayed, there is no doubt that the US sanctions worry officials in The Hague.

Several NGOs are asking the member states of the Court to act. 24 hours before Donald Trump's order, ten states of the UN Security Council denounced the threats on the court.

We have a court which had been criticized, in its first years in particular, for opening only investigations concerning situations on the African continent but which has demonstrated its ability to universalize - which was the wish of all - and that is the great fear of the United States and other great powers.

Clemence Bectarte

Vincent Souriau

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