The European Union yesterday said it will defend the International Criminal Court against attempts to undermine it after Washington slapped sanctions on the Hague-based tribunal’s top prosecutor — a move that The Hague-based tribunal called a ‘serious’ attack against the rule of law.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Wednesday announced sanctions against ICC chief prosecutor Fatou Bensouda and another senior court official, Phakiso Mochochoko, over a war crimes probe into US military personnel in Afghanistan.
Washington has long rejected the ICC’s jurisdiction over US citizens, but the court’s investigation into allegations of atrocities in Afghanistan has seen President Donald Trump’s administration turn low-level opposition into a concerted campaign against the institution.
“The International Criminal Court is facing persistent external challenges and the European Union stands firm against all attempts to undermine the international system of criminal justice by hindering the work of its core institutions,” Peter Stano, spokesman for EU diplomatic chief Josep Borrell, told reporters.
US earlier imposed visa bans on Bensouda and others but failed to head off the court’s war crimes probe into US military personnel in Afghanistan.
The ICC quickly fired back.
“These coercive acts, directed at an international judicial institution and its civil servants, are unprecedented and constitute serious attacks against the court, the Rome Statute system of international criminal justice, and the rule of law more generally,” it said in a statement.
The sanctions freeze the US assets of the two officials, and bar any US individuals from doing business with them.
The United States — like Russia, China, Israel, Syria and a number of other countries — is not a member of the ICC, and its opposition to the court is longstanding.
The United States argues that it has its own procedures in place to investigate accusations against troops.
Also underpinning Washington’s enmity is the ICC’s investigation into alleged war crimes by US ally Israel against Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza.
Dutch Foreign Minister Stef Blok said his country was disappointed over the US move.
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