THE HAGUE, Dec 6, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – Countries signed up to the
International Criminal Court renewed their backing Wednesday for the
embattled global legal body, targeted by the Trump administration, but urged
the ICC to speed up its work.
“The European Union strongly supports the International Criminal Court and
its work as an independent and impartial judicial institution,” said
Heidemaria Guerer at the annual meeting of the court’s 123 member states in
The Hague.
“We believed that in a time that the rules-based international order is
facing increased pressure, the strengthening of the international criminal
justice system is an imperative,” she said, speaking on behalf of the
continental bloc.
Other countries including those in Africa where the ICC is active, such as
Nigeria and Uganda, also pledged continued support.
This year the ICC is celebrating 20 years since its founding mandate, the
Rome Statute, was agreed upon by states in Rome in 1998 to prosecute the
world’s worst crimes.
But the court has since come under attack by some African states, who have
accused it of being biaised, and more recently by US President Donald Trump
and White House National Security Advisor John Bolton.
Trump in September accused the ICC of lacking any legitimacy, saying it
violated “all principles of justice” and that it had no authority.
In the same month, Bolton threatened to arrest ICC judges and officials if
they moved against Israel and the United States — neither of whom are
members of the ICC but who are under scrutiny by the court’s prosecutors.
ICC chief prosecutor Fatou Bensouda has launched a preliminary probe of
possible war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in war-ravaged
Afghanistan — including by US service members.
Her office is also conducting an initial investigation into similar
alleged crimes committed in Israel and the Palestinian territories in the
wake of the Gaza war.
Without referring to any specific country, Britain’s delegate Andrew
Murdoch said Wednesday “the court has many critics… Some of their criticism
is strident and in our judgement misplaced”.
But as a member state that supported the ICC “we also speak plainly about
the concerns we have,” he said.
Murdoch urged the court to speed up its work including its investigations
and trials.
“After 20 years and 1.5 billion euros spent, we have only three core crime
convictions,” by the ICC, Murdoch told delegates.
The ICC has secured convictions in three cases for war crimes and crimes
against humanity committed in Mali and in the Democratic Republic of Congo.