U.S Sanctions ICC Officials After Court Opens War Crimes Investigation On Alleged US Wrongdoing in Afghanistan

VOA: Trump Sanctions ICC Officials Probing Alleged US Wrongdoing in Afghanistan

WASHINGTON - U.S. President Donald Trump imposed new travel and property sanctions Thursday on International Criminal Court officials, attempting to penalize them for investigating alleged wrongdoing by U.S. military personnel and intelligence operatives fighting against terrorism in Afghanistan over the past 18 years.

Trump declared a national emergency, calling the ICC investigation at The Hague “an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States.”

Trump’s order blocks an untold number of unnamed ICC officials from entering the U.S., and it keeps them from carrying out financial and property transactions in the U.S.

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More News On The U.S Sanctioning ICC Officials After The Court Opened A War Crimes Investigation On Alleged US Wrongdoing in Afghanistan

Trump targets ICC with sanctions after court opens war crimes investigation -- The Guardian
ICC slams US sanctions over Afghanistan war crimes probe -- DW
Trump authorizes sanctions on ICC staff investigating US war crimes in Afghanistan -- France 24
Donald Trump authorises sanctions for ICC staff investigating possible US war crimes in Afghanistan -- ABC News Online
Trump authorizes sanctions against International Criminal Court officials -- CNN
ICC must up its game to survive after US onslaught: experts -- AFP
Why the Trump administration is sanctioning a top international court -- VOX

International Criminal Court Will Not Probe U.S. Actions In Afghanistan

#ICC refuses to investigate crimes in #Afghanistan including US torture. We condemn this shameful and unacceptable decision! pic.twitter.com/a1Q6URG9cC

— FIDH (@fidh_en) April 12, 2019

NPR: World Criminal Court Rejects Probe Into U.S. Actions In Afghanistan

A panel of judges at the International Criminal Court has rejected a request to proceed with investigating possible war crimes and crimes against humanity in Afghanistan, including those allegedly involving U.S. armed forces and the CIA.

This is in response to a request from ICC prosecutor Fatou Bensouda in 2017, a prospect that U.S. officials have strongly criticized.

In their unanimous decision released Friday, the judges said that the prosecutor's request is within the court's jurisdiction and the crimes are of sufficient gravity for it to consider the case. But it said that it was ultimately rejecting the request because "the current circumstances of the situation in Afghanistan are such as to make the prospects for a successful investigation and prosecution extremely limited."

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WNU Editor: This is a big win for the White House .... In Win for Bolton, International Criminal Court Will Not Prosecute US Troops (Defense One). More here .... White House cheers decision by international court to reject Afghanistan war crimes investigation (ABC News).

More News On the International Criminal Court Refusing To Probe U.S. Actions In Afghanistan

Judges reject Afghanistan probe; cite lack of cooperation -- AP
Facing hurdles from U.S., war crimes judges reject Afghan probe -- Reuters
ICC judges reject request for Afghanistan war crimes probe -- France 24
International Criminal Court rejects call to investigate war crimes in Afghanistan -- CNN
International court rejects request to probe alleged war crimes in Afghanistan -- The Hill
ICC rejects Afghanistan war crimes probe -- DW

US National Security Adviser John Bolton Says U.S. Will Not Cooperate With International Criminal Court

DW: US threatens to arrest ICC judges over war crimes probe

Washington will sanction and prosecute ICC judges who open an investigation into US war crimes in Afghanistan, said a top official. In November, the ICC chief prosecutor requested a probe into criminal action by the US.

US National Security Adviser John Bolton on Monday threatened to sanction and prosecute International Criminal Court (ICC) judges if the tribunal attempts to charge US service members and intelligence agents with war crimes.

"The United States will use any means necessary to protect our citizens and those of our allies from unjust prosecution by this illegitimate court," Bolton said in a speech delivered to the conservative Federalist Society in Washington.

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More News On US National Security Adviser John Bolton Saying That The U.S. Will Not Cooperate With International Criminal Court

Full text of John Bolton's speech to the Federalist Society -- Al Jazeera
US relationship with international court crashes under Trump -- AP
John Bolton says international court is 'dead to us' -- CNBC/AP
US threatens to arrest ICC judges who probe war crimes -- AFP
John Bolton threatens war crimes court with sanctions in virulent attack -- The Guardian
John Bolton says U.S. will not cooperate with International Criminal Court -- CBS
Bolton: International Criminal Court Will Face Repercussions If Americans Prosecuted -- NPR

Will U.S. Military And CIA Leaders Be Investigated For War Crimes?

Huffington Post: U.S. Military And CIA Leaders May Be Investigated For War Crimes

On November 3, the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) informed the court’s Pre-Trial Chamber, ”[T]here is a reasonable basis to believe that war crimes and crimes against humanity have been committed in connection with the armed conflict in Afghanistan.”

In what Amnesty International’s Solomon Sacco called a “seminal moment for the ICC,” Chief Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda asked the court for authorization to commence an investigation that would focus on US military and CIA leaders, as well as Taliban and Afghan officials.

Bensouda wrote in a November 14, 2016, report that her preliminary examination revealed “a reasonable basis to believe” the “war crimes of torture and ill-treatment” had been committed “by US military forces deployed to Afghanistan and in secret detention facilities operated by the Central Intelligence Agency, principally in the 2003-2004 period, although allegedly continuing in some cases until 2014.”

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WNU Editor:  The International Criminal Court will launch an investigation and I will not be surprised if charges are laid against senior U.S. military and intelligence leaders. Will former senior Bush and Obama officials be held accountable .... I doubt it, but we shall see.

British Soldiers To Be Investigated By The International Criminal Court Over Claims They Committed War Crimes In Iraq

BREAKING NEWS: British Soldiers To Be Investigated By International Criminal Court Over Claims They Committed War Crimes In Iraq -- Daily Mail

* Examine allegations that British soldiers may have committed war crimes by abusing prisoners from 2003 to 2008
* Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda said she would review 'new information'
* The earlier investigation was closed in 2006
* Iraq is not a member of the court but Britain is

The prosecutor of the International Criminal Court says she has reopened a preliminary investigation into Iraq to examine allegations that British soldiers may have committed war crimes by abusing prisoners from 2003 to 2008.

In a statement, prosecutor Fatou Bensouda said she would review 'new information' she received in January alleging that British officials bear responsibility for wrongdoing.

The earlier investigation was closed in 2006.

Iraq is not a member of the court but Britain is.

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More News On The International Criminal Court Investigating Claims That British Soldiers Committed War Crimes In Iraq

ICC to examine claims that British troops carried out war crimes in Iraq -- The Guardian
ICC will investigate ‘abuse’ by UK troops in Iraq -- The Independent
ICC to investigate claims of abuse by UK forces in Iraq -- BBC
ICC reopens probe of alleged British Iraq war crimes -- Global Post/AFP
Int’l war crimes prosecutor reopens Iraq inquiry -- AP
International Criminal Court Reopens Probe of Alleged U.K. Soldiers' Abuse of Detainees in Iraq -- WSJ
ICC launches investigation into UK Iraq prisoner abuse claims -- RT
British Generals Could Stand Trial for Iraq War Crimes at the ICC in the Hague -- IBTimes
U.K. to Cooperate With International Court Probe of Iraq Abuses -- Bloomberg Businessweek

No Amnesty For War Crimes In Libya

International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutor Fatou Bensouda addresses the Security Council. UN Photo/Evan Schneider

Hague Prosecutor Urges Libya Not To Grant Amnesty For War Crimes -- Reuters

(Reuters) - Libya should not grant amnesty for war crimes committed during last year's uprising against former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, regardless of who committed them, the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court said on Wednesday.

In her first official presentation to the U.N. Security Council as The Hague-based court's top prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda said that the ICC's pre-trial chamber would decide "in due course" on whether the late Libyan leader's son Saif al-Islam Gaddafi should be tried in Libya or The Hague.

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Update #1: International Criminal Court prosecutor calls on Libyan authorities to ensure no impunity -- UN News Centre
Update #2: Prosecutor expects Libya’s cooperation if judges rule Gadhafi’s son should be tried by ICC -- Washington Post/AP

My Comment: Libya has bigger problems to focus on than accommodating the Hague.

Mali Agrees To House War Criminals Convicted By The International Criminal Court

Mali Becomes First African Nation To Take War Crimes Prisoners -- CNN

(CNN) -- Mali has agreed to take in prisoners convicted by the International Criminal Court, making it the first African country to enforce sentences handed down by the world war crimes tribunal.

The nation will work with the court to take in prisoners in Malian jails, the court said in a statement Friday. The court does not have prisons of its own.

The seven cases the court is investigating are all in Africa -- in Ivory Coast, Libya, Kenya, Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Sudan and Uganda.

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My Comment: Considering Africa's long legacy of war crimes and human rights abuses .... I suspect that this prison is going to be very busy for a very long time.

Should "Aggression" Be A Crime Under International Law?

US Opposes ICC Bid To Make 'Aggression' A Crime Under International Law -- Christian Science Monitor

The Obama administration has resisted efforts by the International Criminal Court to include 'aggression' as a crime, mainly because it could impact US military operations abroad.

The United States under the Obama administration has developed an increasingly close working relationship with the International Criminal Court in The Hague. But that growing engagement with a controversial institution of international law was unable to prevent the ICC from expanding the scope of its work to include the murky crime of “aggression,” a move the US had vehemently opposed.

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My Comment: Like most international bodies, political interference and self interests are always the priority .... forget about some common purpose and goal. Some in the U.S. may hope the ICC will go beyond this "business as usual" mindset .... but I am not so optimistic.

We Need Better International Legal Frameworks

From Information Dissemination:

So Obama and Cheney gave a little talk on detainees today... It was interesting, and usually something I would avoid on the blog, except I see the way Obama is moving forward on detainees as part of a larger problem how we deal with international bad guys when by policy the US is dedicated to taking multi-national approaches. From Esquire.

President Obama's decision to stick with a modified version these tribunals — "an appropriate venue for trying detainees," as he called them today — seriously undermines his campaign pledge to turn the page on Bush-Cheney's deeply flawed approach to terrorism. No matter how many times he enumerates the "swift changes" by his administration to ditch its predecessor's out-of-thin-air concepts — "war on terror," "enhanced interrogation methods," "unlawful enemy combatants" — Obama continues to promote Bush-Cheney's isolating notion that detainees should be tried in a special, U.S.-executive-branch-controlled system of alternative justice that lies outside of two proven pillars of traditional justice: the military's ever-effective courts martial and our civilian court system, which is held in place by the same safeguards of the Constitution that Obama invoked so many times this morning.

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My Comment: While I would (personally) prefer to have international cases examined by some form of "International Court", my experience from working with the United Nations (I worked there from 1989 - 1995) has been one big disappointment.

The UN and other international bodies have a clear vision of what is justice and what is not .... but these concepts will always fail when applied to an arena of conflicting political interests and different philosophies. One man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter is very true, and it is because of these conflicting perceptions that any International Legal Framework or International Criminal Court will ultimately fail. The "small fish" will always be caught .... but the "big fish" will always escape.

An Example Of What Is Coming To Lebanon And Sudan

International Criminal Court Logo

From Ya Liban:

New York - The capture of fugitive war criminal Radovan Karadzic, the Bosnian Serb leader accused before the International Criminal Court (ICC) of genocide against eight thousand Muslims , right in the middle of Europe in 1995, has dimmed the rising voices of Arab masses protesting against justice in the name of national dignity and of those who yelled "conspiracy" upon hearing news of the ICC directing charges of war crimes and genocide in Darfur against Sudan's President Omar Al-Bashir.

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My Comment:A good portion of the world's leaders have committed massive atrocities against their own populations. As the International Criminal Court feels more confident on what they can do, I will expect more leaders to be indicted.

But there is a part of me that feels that the General Assembly at the U.N. will soon be putting a stop to this judicial activism.