The American president accuses the International Criminal Court of “illegitimate actions and without foundation targeting America” and his “near Israel”.
Donald Trump signed an imposing decree of sanctions on the International Criminal Court on Thursday and his representatives because of the surveys carried out on Israel, his close ally.
Neither the United States nor Israel is members of the ICC or recognize it. But Donald Trump has been protested for months against the court’s decision which recently issued an arrest warrant against the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, for his actions towards the Palestinians of Gaza after the attack of Hamas against Israel in October 2023. In fifteen months of fighting, tens of thousands of Palestinians were killed during the response of the Israeli army.
The decree signed Thursday evening by Donald Trump accuses the ICC of engaging in “illegitimate and baseless actions targeting America and our close ally Israel” and abuse his power by delivering “Based mandates” Against Mr. Netanyahu and his former Minister of Defense, Yoav Gallant.
“The ICC has no competence on the United States or Israel”indicates the order, adding that the court has created a “Dangerous previous” With its actions against the two countries. This decision comes when B Netanyahu was visiting Washington.
The decree stipulates that the United States will impose “Tangible and significant consequences” to managers of the “Transgressions” CPI. These measures may consist in blocking goods and assets and prohibiting civil servants, employees and members of the CPI family to enter US territory.
Human rights defenders immediately declared that sanctioning the court officials would have a deterrent effect and would go against the interests of the United States in other areas of conflict in which the Court Investigates.
“Victims of human rights violations worldwide turn to the International Criminal Court when they have nowhere to go, and the*he decree of President Trump will make their quest for justice more difficult“*,” said Charlie Hogle, lawyer for the American American Liberties Union’s National Security Project (National Security Project of the American Union for Civil Liberties). “The decree also raises serious questions relating to the first amendment (of the American Constitution, editor’s note) Because he exposes American citizens to severe sanctions for helping the court to identify and investigate atrocities committed anywhere, by anyone. “
Charlie Hogle said the decree “East an attack both against responsibility and freedom of expression“.
Like Israel, the United States is not one of 124 members of the Court and have long fed on the fear that a “world court” made up of unleanced judges arbitrarily prosecute American officials. A 2002 law authorizes the Pentagon to release any American or ally of the United States owned by the Court. In 2020, Trump sanctioned the predecessor of the prosecutor General Karim Khan, Fatou Bensouda, for his decision to open an investigation into war crimes committed by all parties, including the United States, in Afghanistan.
However, these sanctions were lifted under the chairmanship of Joe Biden and the United States began to cooperate timidly with the court, especially after Mr. Khan accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of war crimes in Ukraine in 2023.
Any sanction could paralyze the ICC By making it more difficult to travel from its investigators and compromising the technology developed by the United States to save evidence. Last year, the Court underwent a major cyber attack that prevented employees from accessing the files for weeks.
Some European countries are protested. In a statement made at the end of last year, the Netherlands called the other members of the ICC to “Cooperate to mitigate the risks of these possible sanctions, so that the Court can continue to do its job and fulfill its mandate”.
