The embattled ICC The Excelsior 17th Jan 2025
The embattled ICC The Excelsior 17th Jan 2025
Last weekend, the US House of Representatives passed a bill termed as the ‘Illegitimate Court Counteraction Act’ which seeks to sanction the International Criminal Court (ICC). The bill proposes to freeze property assets and deny visas to any foreigners who materially or financially contributed to the court’s efforts to ‘investigate, arrest, detain or prosecute a protected person.’
A ‘protected person’ as per the bill includes all current and former military and government officials of the United States and its allies that have not consented to the court’s jurisdiction, such as Israel. Evidently, the intent is to punish the ICC for issuing arrest warrants against the Israeli PM, Benjamin Netanyahu and his defence minister, Yoav Gallant.
The Palestinian named in the warrant, Mohammed Deif, has already been eliminated by Israel. The names of other Palestinians whom the ICC wanted to sanction were cancelled as soon as their deaths were confirmed. The warrants were issued in Nov last year. What has irked the US is that the ICC has placed both, Israelis and Palestinian leaders on the same platform.
A similar effort to sanction the ICC last year did not succeed as Biden led Democrats opposed the bill. The current intent is to push it through both houses, controlled by Republicans, and have the same ready for signature by incoming President Donald Trump, when he assumes the presidency on 20th Jan. Trump has been the most pro-Israel president in recent times. In his previous tenure, he had shifted the US embassy to Jerusalem sending a strong message.
The US has been critical of the ICC all along. It is also concerned that the ICC could act against them sometime in the future, if unchecked. The US, Russia, China and India are amongst few countries which have neither signed nor ratified the Rome statue of 1998 establishing the ICC. Almost all European nations have ratified the statute, hence have announced that they would be obliged to detain Netanyahu or Gallant in case they step foot on their soil.
Trump, in his last tenure as President in 2020, had threatened to launch an economic and legal offensive on the ICC in case it decided to open any investigation into war crimes in Afghanistan, which largely involved US troops. In 2020 Donald Trump sanctioned the ICC’s previous prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda, with a travel ban and asset freeze for commencing investigation of US troops and intelligence officials in Afghanistan. Biden subsequently reversed the ban.
In 2020, the US had threatened to not only sanction members of the ICC but also impose visa restrictions on their families. As an added threat, US leaders warned of launching a corruption investigation against the institution. The US claimed that this was the ‘first step in holding the ICC accountable for exceeding its mandate and violating the sovereignty of the United States.’
The ICC responded to current US actions. It mentioned in a statement, ‘The court firmly condemns any and all actions intended to threaten the court and its officials, undermine its judicial independence and its mandate and deprive millions of victims of international atrocities across the world of justice and hope.’ With such threats and pressures, the institution will be hampered.
While the ICC warrant may not directly impact Netanyahu, as no nation which Putin has visited, including Mongolia, which has ratified the Rome Statute, has arrested him on his ICC warrant, the US bill indicates that powerful nations will continue threatening global institutions, when they or their allies are challenged. Putin is also expected to visit India, which has anyway not ratified the statute.
Global rights groups appealed to the US mentioning, ‘It is shocking to see a country that considers itself a champion of the rule of law trying to stymie the actions of an independent and impartial tribunal set up by the international community.’ However, their appeals fell on deaf ears.
There were reports that the US had launched its investigation into corruption in FIFA (Fédération Internationale de Football Association), the global football body, after losing the 2010 bid to host the 2022 world cup. It disclosed cases of corruption in 2015, leading to arrests and revamping of the body. It was browbeating a body when it did not get its way.
As a result of its pressure, it won the bid to host the 2026 FIFA world cup jointly with Mexico and Canada. In the case of Israel, it has been US weaponry which has been utilized by Israel to target Palestine, therefore there is a possibility that at some stage it could also be accused of being complicit in the crime.
The US is not alone in threatening the ICC. Russia issued an arrest warrant for ICC chief Prosecutor Karim Khan two months after a warrant for Putin on charges of unlawful deportation of children was issued. US Republican Senator Lindsey Graham went a step further. He threatened not only the ICC but also US allies, Canada, Britain, Germany and France, in case they tried to help the ICC enforce the warrant on Netanyahu. The nations threatened by Graham are signatories of the Statute and are duty bound to arrest Netanyahu in case he sets foot on their soil.
When the ICC issued its warrant for Putin, the US and its allies gleefully claimed that the ICC had taken the right action. President Biden mentioned, ‘He’s clearly committed war crimes.’ When it comes to the same court issuing warrants against Netanyahu as also investigating the US for war crimes, it cries foul.
Such a two-faced approach does not bode well for the US nor does it benefit global institutions. It is a message that while other nations and their leaders can be targeted for crimes against humanity, the US is supreme and has the right to degrade institutions established with the backing of majority of the globe to check crimes against humanity, if it does not suit them. This highhandedness of the US will damage the global system and institutions. There are better ways, including requesting for a repeal of the warrants, rather than browbeating and adopting pressure tactics.
About the Author
Maj Gen Harsha Kakkar
Retired Major General Indian Army