DaysofPal- The International Criminal Court (ICC) said it started facing coercion and intimidation following the issuance of arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former war minister over war crimes in Gaza.
Speaking at the ICC’s annual conference in The Hague on Monday, President Tomoko Akane stated that the court has been subjected to “coercive measures, threats, pressure, and acts of sabotage.”
“We are at a turning point in history… International law and justice are under threat, as is the future of humanity,” said ICC President Tomoko Akane.
She affirmed that the International Criminal Court would continue to fulfil its lawful mandate “independently and impartially” without yielding to outside interference.
The ICC issued arrest warrants on November 21, citing “reasonable grounds” that Israel’s siege and assault on Gaza created conditions that could lead to the destruction of part of the civilian population.
Following the warrants, the United States, Israel’s key ally and an accomplice in the Gaza conflict, swiftly rejected the ICC’s decision.
Some U.S. Republicans have urged the Senate to sanction the ICC, while President Joe Biden condemned the warrants as “outrageous.”
ICC President Tomoko Akane stated, “Several elected officials are being severely threatened and subjected to arrest warrants from a permanent member of the UN Security Council.”
“The court is being threatened with Draconian economic sanctions from institutions of another permanent member of the Security Council as if it were a terrorist organization,” Akane said.
She described it as “appalling” that countries seem “scandalized” when the ICC issues arrest warrants based on international law.
Akane warned, “If the court collapses, it will inevitably collapse all cases and situations… The danger to the court is existential.”
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