International Criminal Court raises outcry over threats, pressure at annual meeting

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (CN) — Top officials at the International Criminal Court opened the institution’s annual meeting on Monday with deep concerns over the future of the judicial body.

“The court has been subjected to attacks seeking to undermine its legitimacy and ability to administer justice and realize international law and fundamental rights; coercive measures, threats, pressure and acts of sabotage,” ICC President Tomoko Akane said in her address.

Akane kicked off a week of meetings in The Hague known as the Assembly of States Parties. The assembly oversees the court and is made up of representatives from the 124 members of the court’s foundational Rome Statute.

The meeting comes at a critical juncture, after strong reactions to judges issuing arrest warrants last month for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, his former Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant and a senior Hamas official over war crimes and crimes against humanity.

The ICC’s chief prosecutor, Karim Khan, asked judges to issue the warrants in May, receiving condemnation from Israel and the United States, a lukewarm international reception but praise from human rights organizations.

The Biden administration blasted the decision calling the arrest warrants “outrageous.”

“Let me be clear: Whatever this prosecutor might imply, there is no equivalence — none — between Israel and Hamas,” President Joe Biden said in a statement. “We will always stand with Israel against threats to its security.”

Republican politicians have gone further, with Senator Tom Cotton threatening military action and Senator Lindsey Graham calling the court a “dangerous joke” and urging Congress to sanction Khan.

“To any ally, Canada, Britain, Germany, France, if you try to help the ICC, we’re going to sanction you,” Graham said on Fox News.

There is precedent for striking out at the court. Incoming President Donald Trump levied economic sanctions and travel restrictions against ICC workers investigating American war crimes in Afghanistan during his previous term in office.

Akane said, “The court is being threatened with draconian economic sanctions from institutions of another permanent member of the Security Council as if it was a terrorist organization.”

The charges against the Israeli leaders center on the use of starvation as a war crime, pointing to the “arbitrary” closing of border crossings and cutting off water and electricity to the Gaza Strip following the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks.

Netanyahu has dismissed the warrant, saying in a statement he “rejects with disgust the absurd and false actions.” He vowed that Israel will “not yield to pressure, will not be deterred, and will not retreat” until it has eradicated Hamas.

Akane also pointed to threats from Russia, which has issued arrest warrants for Khan and several judges over the court’s 2023 arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin.

On Friday, the court announced that two of the judges on the panel that issued the warrant for Netanyhau and others had been subjected to arrest warrants in Russia.

The ICC has no enforcement arm and relies on its member states to arrest suspects.

In September Mongolia, which is a member state, failed to arrest Putin when he visited. Hungary, also a member state, has said it wouldn’t arrest Netanyahu.

The ICC was established in 2002 as the world’s permanent court of last resort to prosecute those responsible for war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide and the crime of aggression. The court gets involved when nations are unable or unwilling to prosecute those crimes on their territory. Israel, Russia and China are not signatories to the Rome Statute.

The Assembly of Parties President Päivi Kaukoranta said in her opening remarks that the court would continue its work regardless of the issues judges face.

“The difficult circumstances that subsequently arose are only strengthening our determination. We will never give up to coercive measures, threats, sabotage or outrage,” she said.

She noted that the court itself was the subject of a cyber attack and that judges had faced threats.

The ICC is facing pressure from its champions as well. Last month a coalition of women’s advocacy groups called for Khan to step down during an investigation into sexual harassment charges.

“We express concern that the prosecutor’s continued performance of his duties, despite the gravity and seriousness of the alleged misconduct, is adversely affecting the court’s ability to fulfill its mandate. The situation is impacting the well-being of its staff, particularly within the [prosecutor’s office],” the groups said in a statement.

In her remarks, Kaukoranta said an external investigation was ongoing.

Khan also addressed the opening of the assembly, pointing to the arrest warrants his office has requested, along with other work. He said the court was facing “unprecedented challenges.”

The meeting will continue through the end of the week, including a discussion of the budget and committee elections.

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