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The European Union will defend the International Criminal Court against attempts to undermine it, a spokesman for the bloc said Thursday after Washington imposed sanctions on the court’s chief prosecutor based in The Hague.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Wednesday announced sanctions against ICC Chief Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda and another senior judicial official, Phakiso Mochochoko, for an investigation into war crimes against US military personnel in Afghanistan.
Washington has long rejected the ICC’s jurisdiction over American citizens, but the court’s investigation into allegations of atrocities in Afghanistan, as well as allies like Israel, has seen the administration of US President Donald Trump , turn the low-level opposition into a concerted campaign against the institution. .
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“The International Criminal Court faces persistent external challenges and the European Union stands firm against all attempts to undermine the international criminal justice system by hampering the work of its central institutions,” Peter Stano, spokesman for the chief diplomat, told reporters. from the EU, Josep Borrell. .
“We are committed to strengthening our support for the ICC because it is a key factor in the fight against impunity. We are on the side of the ICC and we are not pleased to see steps that go against the activities of the ICC ”.
Pompeo has dismissed the ICC as a “kangaroo court” and the United States insists that it has its own procedures for investigating allegations against its troops.
Bensouda also announced in December that there was a “reasonable basis for believing that war crimes were committed” in the West Bank, the Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem by both the Israel Defense Forces and the Hamas terror group, as well as others. ” Palestinian armed groups “. However, he threw the question of jurisdiction to the judges, delaying the case until they can rule. A three-judge panel of the ICC is expected to decide soon whether the court has jurisdiction over the Palestinian territories and can launch an investigation into alleged war crimes.
Israel has long argued that the ICC has no jurisdiction over the case, as there is no sovereign Palestinian state that can delegate criminal jurisdiction over its territory and citizens to the court.
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