ICC President Stands Up Against Threats From USA And Russia
The International Criminal Court (ICC) is who the world turns to for justice when a nation won't prosecute it's own people for atrocities such as genocide, war crimes, crimes of aggression, and crimes against humanity. There are 125 members of the ICC, but China, Israel, Russia, and USA are not members because they don't want their crimes being investigated.
Russia has even issued arrest warrants for ICC staff in retaliation after they issued an arrest warrant for Vladimir Putin for his war crimes in Ukraine. When they issued an arrest warrant for Israeli Crime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former defense minister Yoav Gallant for their war crimes and genocide in Gaza, Trump retaliated on behalf of his criminal friends. Trump issued executive orders which sanctioned nine ICC staff members, including six judges, and their Chief Prosecutor Karim Khan. Trump is afraid of his own crimes being investigated, so he is actively working to disrupt the ICC and take away their resources.
At today's ICC delegation meeting, Judge Tomoko Akane vowed “We never accept any kind of pressure." It's important that the international community supports the ICC, and cooperates in carrying out the arrest warrants that they issue.
Currently, the former president of the Philippines Rodrigo Duterte is on trial for the thousands of extra-judicial murders he committed during his "war on drugs." The Trump administration is carrying out those exact same crimes against humanity with his extra-judicial murders of alleged drug boats near Venezuela. It's imperative for us to make sure the ICC pursues a thorough investigation into Trump and his cronies so we can bring them to justice. Our own country doesn't seem capable of doing it, so we must rely on the ICC. It is why they exist.
Even though the USA is not a member of the ICC, it's important to have a open and fair trial where the facts are exposed to the world and preserved for posterity. In the case of former president George "Dubya" Bush, we couldn't get him arrested and extradited to The Hague, so he was tried and convicted in absentia for his war crimes. If someone with an ICC arrest warrant travels to a country that is a member, they can be immediately arrested and extradited.
I'm so glad the ICC president is standing strong, despite all of the threats and sanctions against them. Here's some reporting by AP on what was said today:
https://apnews.com/article/icc-court-trump-sanctions-russia-6f8a0c911bccaaa9551529fc03b3dcc0