The governing body of the International Criminal Court on Thursday expressed “its deep concern over sanctions measures against the International Criminal Court (“the Court”) and its personnel, as well as individuals and entities who assist it in investigating, arresting, detaining, or prosecuting certain individuals.”
“Sanctions can severely hamper ongoing investigations in all situations and other activities of the Court and affect the safety of victims, witnesses and sanctioned individuals,” the Assembly of States Parties said.
Although the statement did not mention the US or Israel, it came after US President Donald Trump issued executive order sanctions against the ICC and the ICC Office of the Prosecutor for issuing arrest warrants against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former defense minister Yoav Gallant on November 21 as part of its war-crimes probe into the Israel-Hamas War.
In addition, the US House of Representatives voted for sanctions against the ICC. The US Senate, which is now controlled by Republicans, may follow suit.
The outgoing Biden administration had called the ICC arrest warrants “outrageous” and filed legal briefs opposing them, but it declined to take punitive actions.
The arrest warrants constitute the darkest legal crisis Israel has ever encountered. They have led to diplomatic bouts between Israel and other states, including several countries being more aggressive about seeking to arrest Israeli soldiers, even though the ICC itself has not gone after soldiers yet.
The Assembly of States Parties said it “regrets any attempts to undermine the Court’s independence, integrity and impartiality. We reiterate our firm commitment to uphold and defend the principles and values enshrined in the Rome Statute and to preserve its integrity undeterred by any threats or measures against the Court, its officials, its personnel and those cooperating with it.”
Israel’s appeal
On January 13, ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan filed an objection to Israel’s appeal of the war-crimes arrest warrants.
On November 21, the ICC’s Pre-Trial Chamber, or lower court, approved the warrants. In mid-December, Israel appealed to the ICC Appeals Court, the institution’s top court, to reverse the decision.
Israel’s appeal rested mainly on Articles 18 and 19 of the Rome Statute, raising both directly and indirectly a plethora of errors it said the lower court had committed in its decision.
Some of the issues raised by Israel relate to whether: Palestine is a country; Israel’s legal establishment properly probes itself; Israel needed to be given more specifics by Khan about any investigation after the October 7 massacre radically changed the region; and whether a head of state from a democratic country, such as Netanyahu, has special immunity.