SATISH SHARMA - not just Rotigraphy.: THE RULE OF LAW ITSELF is globally in danger from the United States, the International Criminal Court warned yesterday.

https://x.com/NuryVittachi/status/2090216629267513389

Nury Vittachi

THE RULE OF LAW ITSELF is globally in danger from the United States, the International Criminal Court warned yesterday.

The court revealed that the US had slapped sanctions on:
- nine of the ICC’s 18 judges
- both its deputy prosecutors
- its former chief prosecutor and
- a prosecution office staff member.

When judges “are threatened for applying the law, it is the international legal order itself that is placed at risk,” the court said in a statement (link provided).

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US TO DESTROY COURT
But US foreign minister Marco Rubio vowed to destroy the court by pressurizing states to withdraw support for it. 

Venezuela—which the US illegally took control of in January—has already complied.

Rubio has said it will dismantle the court "brick by brick if necessary” in an op-ed published in the Wall Street Journal last month.

The ICC has never investigated alleged crimes committed in the US or its official territories, but has angered Washington by taking action against actions by Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu which resulted in the deaths of tens of thousands of civilians, mainly women and children.

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SHOCKED THE WORLD
The addition of new sanctions this week, including one on Japanese national Tomoko Akane, ICC President, shocked people around the world.

“Such measures targeting judges, prosecutors and staff who work towards the fulfilment of the mandate that was conferred to the ICC by States undermine the rule of law,” the court said in a statement.

When the US sanctions a person, they lose the ability to hold bank accounts and use credit cards, even in their own countries, thanks to the US dollar being the global reserve currency. Some have reported that they cannot access their own money to buy basic food and drink for their children.
 
Rubio argues that the ICC has no right to interfere with places such as the US and Israel which have not ratified its conventions—although the US does precisely that, repeatedly.
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