The president of the International Criminal Court (ICC) has warned that attacks on the tribunal, which have come largely from Washington, \u201cjeopardise its very existence.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Addressing ICC members in The Hague at an annual conference on Monday, ICC President Tomoko Akane said the court faced \u201ccoercive measures, threats, pressure and acts of sabotage\u201d without naming the United States.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe court is being threatened with draconian economic sanctions by another permanent member of the Security Council as if it was a terrorist organisation,\u201d Akane said in her address.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
U.S. politicians have been threatening to impose sanctions on ICC officials after the tribunal issued arrest warrants against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant over suspected war crimes in Gaza.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Last month, U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham, whose Republican Party will be in control of both houses of Congress and the White House starting in January, called the ICC a \u201cdangerous joke\u201d and threatened penalties against the court and any country that cooperates with it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cTo any ally \u2013 Canada, Britain, Germany, France \u2013 if you try to help the ICC, we\u2019re going to sanction you,\u201d Graham said on Fox News.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In June, the Republican-controlled U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill to sanction the court in response to ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan\u2019s request for the arrest warrants against Israeli officials.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The measure has so far not been considered by the Senate, which at this point is controlled by Democrats.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After the ICC issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu, Gallant and a Hamas leader last month, U.S. Senator Tom Cotton suggested using military force against The Hague-based tribunal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The U.S. and Israel are not members of the ICC, and they have rejected the court\u2019s investigations of alleged abuses in Gaza and the occupied West Bank.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, the court has ruled that it has jurisdiction in those areas because the State of Palestine is a signatory to the Rome Statute, which established the tribunal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe court has been subjected to attacks seeking to undermine its legitimacy and ability to administer justice and realise international law and fundamental rights \u2013 coercive measures, threats, pressure and acts of sabotage,\u201d Akane said. She called the efforts \u201cappalling.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Last week, the court decried the \u201crecent issuance of arrest warrants aimed at threatening the liberty and integrity of two judges\u201d. Akane warned on Monday that the fall of the court through these threats would \u201cimply the fall of the rule of law in the international community.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cVictims would no longer be able to obtain justice. For many of them, a world without the ICC is inconceivable,\u201d the ICC president said. \u201cWe firmly reject any attempt to influence the independence and the impartiality of the court,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The ICC was established in 2002 to prosecute war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide and the crime of aggression when member states are unwilling or unable to do so themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Its warrant against the Israeli leaders marked the first time the court issued an order for a staunchly close Western ally.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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