Foreign

ICC Condemns US Sanctions, Vows to Continue ‘providing justice’

By Web News 312

The International Criminal Court, ICC, has vowed to continue its judicial work after US President Donald Trump signed an order to impose sanctions on its staff.

The ICC said it “stands firmly” by its personnel and the order seeks to harm its “independent and impartial” work.

Trump’s order accuses it of “illegitimate and baseless actions” after the ICC issued an arrest warrant for Netanyahu over alleged war crimes in Gaza, which Israel denies. The ICC also issued a warrant for a Hamas commander.

The ICC is a global court, although the US and Israel are not members, with the power to bring prosecutions for genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes.

In its statement, it said: “The ICC condemns the issuance by the US of an executive order seeking to impose sanctions on its officials and harm its independent and impartial judicial work.

“The Court stands firmly by its personnel and pledges to continue providing justice and hope to millions of innocent victims of atrocities across the world, in all situations before it,” it added.

In recent years, it has also issued arrest warrants for Russian President Vladimir Putin over alleged war crimes in Ukraine, Taliban leaders for “persecuting Afghan girls and women” and Myanmar’s military leader for crimes against the Rohingya Muslims.

The US and Israel are not members of the court but more than 120 countries are, including the UK and many European nations.

Trump signed the measure as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was visiting Washington.

The sanctions place financial and visa restrictions on individuals and their families who assist in ICC investigations of American citizens or allies.

Judges at the court said there were “reasonable grounds” that Netanyahu, his former defence minister, Yoav Gallant, and Mohammed Deif of Hamas bore “criminal responsibility for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity.

The Netherlands, which hosts the court, said it “regrets” Trump’s order.

“The court’s work is essential in the fight against impunity,” Dutch Foreign Minister Caspar Veldkamp said on X.

A White House memo circulated on Thursday accused the Hague-based ICC of creating a “shameful moral equivalency” between Hamas and Israel by issuing the warrants at the same time.

Trump’s executive order said the ICC’s recent actions “set a dangerous precedent” that endangered Americans by exposing them to “harassment, abuse and possible arrest”.

“This malign conduct in turn threatens to infringe upon the sovereignty of the United States and undermines the critical national security and foreign policy work of the United States government and our allies, including Israel,” the order said.

In a post on X on Friday, Israel’s Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said he “strongly” commended Trump’s executive order.

He claimed the ICC’s actions were “immoral and have no legal basis”, accusing the court of not operating “in accordance with international law”.

BBC / Titilayo Kupoliyi

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News

Putin Scheduled Trip: S/Africa to Consult Russia over ICC Arrest Warrant

By Web News 511

South Africa’s Foreign Minister Naledi Pandor has said the government will have to discuss the arrest warrant issued by the ICC against Russian President Vladimir Putin before considering any action.

Mr Putin is scheduled to travel to South Africa for the Brics (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) summit in August.

The International Criminal Court (ICC) on 17 March issued an arrest warrant against Mr Putin over alleged war crimes in Ukraine.

As a signatory to the Rome Statute, South Africa is legally bound to detain Mr Putin and bring him to trial.

Ms Pandor said the South African authorities will first consult with the Russian side regarding the warrant.

“South Africa will have to look at existing provisions of our legislation. We also will have to have a discussion as cabinet, as well as with our colleagues in Russia, and really determine the way forward,” Ms Pandor told state-run SABC News

South Africa enjoys tight relations with Moscow in spite of Western condemnations.

In 2015, the South African government was criticised for letting then Sudan’s President Omar al-Bashir leave the country despite an ICC arrest warrant.

Mr Bashir had gone to South Africa for an African Union summit and the government argued he enjoyed diplomatic immunity.

BBC/Simeon Ugbodovon

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Foreign

Ukraine: Biden Pleased with ICC’s Arrest Warrant for Putin

By Web News 446

US President Joe Biden has welcomed the International Criminal Court’s issuing of an arrest warrant against his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin.

The ICC accused President Putin of committing war crimes in Ukraine – something President Biden said the Russian leader had “clearly” done.

The claims focus on the unlawful deportation of children from Ukraine to Russia since Moscow’s invasion in 2022.

Moscow has denied the allegations and denounced the warrants as “outrageous”.

It is highly unlikely that much will come of the move, as the ICC has no powers to arrest suspects without the co-operation of a country’s government.

Russia is not an ICC member country, meaning the court, located in The Hague, has no authority there.

However, it could affect Mr Putin in other ways, such as being unable to travel internationally. He could now be arrested if he sets foot in any of the court’s 123 member states.

Mr Putin is only the third president to be issued with an ICC arrest warrant.

President Biden said that, while the court also held no sway in the US, the issuing of the warrant “makes a very strong point”.

“He’s clearly committed war crimes,” he told reporters.

His administration had earlier “formally determined” that Russia had committed war crimes during the conflict in Ukraine, with Vice-President Kamala Harris saying in February that those involved would “be held to account”.

The United Nations also released a report earlier this week that found Moscow’s forced removal of Ukrainian children to areas under its control amounted to a war crime.

In a statement on Friday, the ICC said it had reasonable grounds to believe Mr Putin committed the criminal acts directly, as well as working with others. It also accused him of failing to use his presidential powers to stop children being deported.

Russia’s commissioner for children’s rights, Maria Lvova-Belova, is also wanted by the ICC for the same crimes.

ICC prosecutor Karim Khan has said the warrants were “based upon forensic evidence, scrutiny and what’s been said by those two individuals”.

The court had initially considered keeping the arrest warrants a secret, but decided to make them public to try and stop further crimes being committed.

“Children can’t be treated as the spoils of war, they can’t be deported,” Mr Khan told the BBC.

“This type of crime doesn’t need one to be a lawyer, one needs to be a human being to know how egregious it is.”

Mr Khan also pointed out that nobody thought that Slobodan Milosevic, the Serbian leader who went on trial for war crimes in Croatia, Bosnia and Kosovo in the 1990s, would end up in The Hague to face justice.

“Those that feel that you can commit a crime in the daytime, and sleep well at night, should perhaps look at history,” Mr Khan said.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said any of the court’s decisions were “null and void” and former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev compared the warrant to toilet paper.

Russian opposition activists have welcomed the announcement. Ivan Zhdanov, a close ally of jailed opposition leader Alexei Navalny, has tweeted that it was “a symbolic step” but an important one.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has expressed his thanks to Mr Khan and the ICC for their decision to press charges against “state evil”.

BBC/Simeon Ugbodovon

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