U.S. President Joe Biden on Friday overturned sanctions imposed by his predecessor Donald Trump on the International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutor, urging a more collaborative link with that court following a disagreement that left him move away from their allies.
In a move that angered European partners in the United States, former Trump Secretary of State Mike Pompeo denounced the ICC last year as an “unauthorized court,” imposing both financial sanctions and a ban. visa to its chief prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda.
Pompeo took these measures after Bensouda began an investigation into alleged war crimes committed by U.S. military personnel in Afghanistan.
The Hague-based court further irritated the United States by opening an investigation into alleged war crimes in the Palestinian territories committed by Israel, an American ally that does not recognize ICC authority.
Pompey’s successor, Antony Blinken, said on Friday that the United States still “totally disagrees” with the steps taken by the ICC in relation to Afghanistan and Israel, but considered that Trump’s government measures were ” inappropriate and ineffective “.
“We believe, however, that our concerns about these cases would be better addressed through the involvement of all stakeholders in the ICC process rather than the imposition of sanctions,” Blinken said in a statement.
Democrat Biden overturned a Republican Trump decree on sanctions imposed in September 2020, which also lifted punitive measures against the head of the Prosecutor’s Office’s Division of Jurisdiction, Complementarity and Cooperation, Phakiso Mochochoko.
In addition, the State Department put an end to several visa restrictions decided in 2019 against ICC staff members.
The Gambia-born prosecutor will step down in June, when she will be replaced by British human rights lawyer Karim Khan.
– “A new phase” –
Silvia Fernández de Gurmendi, director of the Association of States Parties to the ICC, expressed her hope that the decision “marks the beginning of a new phase of our common commitment to the fight against impunity” of war crimes. .
France, which like other European allies had been horrified by Trump’s move, welcomed the change of direction and pledged to support the ICC.
“This is great news for all those who are committed to the fight against impunity, multilateralism and an international order based on the rule of law,” said French Chancellor Jean-Yves Le Drian.
Blinken positively highlighted the reforms being carried out by the ICC, which is also being scrutinized on some internal matters, including the salaries of judges.
The United States, which signed but did not ratify the 1998 Rome Statute establishing the ICC, supported specific international judicial initiatives to hold those responsible for war crimes or crimes against humanity accountable, including cases in the Balkans, Cambodia and Rwanda.
“Our support for the rule of law, access to justice, and the possibility of those responsible for mass atrocities being held accountable are important national security interests for the United States,” Blinken assured.
– “Restoration of American ideals” –
The head of US diplomacy announced the end of sanctions on ICC staff, days before the government had to respond to a lawsuit against the Trump decree filed by the Open Society Justice Initiative, a group that promotes human rights and democracy.
James Goldston, executive director of the initiative, hailed Biden’s decision as a “restoration of American ideals.”
“The United States has a long history of using sanctions to punish human rights violators, but never before has this tool been used to punish an independent court seeking justice for victims of atrocities,” he said.
Human rights watchdog Human Rights Watch praised Biden for ending “this unprecedented and totally distorted use of sanctions” and for turning the page on “Trump’s assault on the rule of world law.”
Trump, in his final weeks in office, pardoned three American soldiers convicted of crimes in the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.
According to his critics, this undermined the Trump administration’s own argument in sanctioning the ICC: that the United States had its own judiciary capable of ensuring accountability.
Democratic governments have given more support to the ICC, but the United States is still not part of the Rome Statute, and intense opposition from Republicans is far from likely to integrate it.
The United States Congress even passed a law in 2002 authorizing the use of military force to free any American held by the ICC, which theoretically gives the president authority to invade the Netherlands, an ally of the United States. ‘NATO.