US government threatens families of International Criminal Court staff if they try Americans for war crimes
The
International Criminal Court approved an investigation into US war
crimes in Afghanistan. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo responded by
threatening to punish family members of ICC staff.
by Ben Norton
Part 1
US
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has threatened the family members of
International Criminal Court staff, vowing that Washington will take
punitive action against them if the court tries American soldiers for
war crimes.
Pompeo
also announced an intensification of unilateral US sanctions on Iran
and Syria, which are illegal under international law, and which are
undermining the countries’ attempts to contain the coronavirus pandemic.
In
March 2019, the Pompeo State Department threatened to revoke or deny
visas to any International Criminal Court (ICC) personnel investigating
crimes committed by American forces.
A
year later, on March 5, 2020, the ICC took a defiant step forward,
officially approving an investigation into allegations of war crimes and
crimes against humanity committed by the US military and CIA in
Afghanistan.
Pompeo
responded by angrily condemning the court and its proceedings. His
broadside was an apparent attempt at discrediting the institution, which
the US government is not a party to.
In a subsequent State Department press briefing on March 17, Pompeo launched another tirade against the ICC, belittling it as a “so-called court,” a “nakedly political body,” and an “embarrassment.”
Pompeo, who previously served as director of the CIA, took the denunciations a step further, threatening the family members of ICC staff.
“We
want to identify those responsible for this partisan investigation and
their family members who may want to travel to the United States or
engage in activity that’s inconsistent with making sure we protect
Americans,” Pompeo said, according to the US State Department’s official transcript.
Sarah
Leah Whitson, the managing director for research and policy at the
Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, drew attention to the “shocking attack” on Twitter.
“This
isn’t just unlawful collective punishment against family members; it’s
not just a disturbing attack on staff of a judiciary — where the US has
voted to refer other nations for prosecution; it’s abuse of federal
authority to use sanctions against actual wrongdoers,” said Whitson, who previously directed the Middle East and North Africa division at Human Rights Watch.
Whitson called on Democratic presidential candidates Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders to “condemn
this US State Department assault on the staff and FAMILIES of ICC –
abuse of sanctions authority in flagrant attack on judicial
independence, unlawful collective punishment.”
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