The president of the International Criminal Court said during the institution’s annual meeting on Monday that it will not bow to pressure from the United States and Russia. Nine staff members, including six judges and the court’s chief prosecutor, have been sanctioned by US President Donald Trump for pursuing investigations into US and Israeli officials, while Moscow has issued warrants for staff in response to an arrest warrant for President Vladimir Putin over the war in Ukraine.
“We never accept any kind of pressure,” Judge Tomoko Akane told delegations from the court’s 125 member States. The sanctions have taken their toll on the court’s work across a broad array of investigations at a time when the institution is juggling ever more demands on its resources. In her address last year, Akane warned that the court was being threatened by the incoming Trump administration.
Three weeks after he took office for the second time, Trump signed an executive order imposing sanctions on Prosecutor Karim Khan over investigations of Israel, a close US ally. The court has issued an arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former defence minister, Yoav Gallant, for alleged war crimes over Israel’s military offensive in Gaza after the deadly October 7, 2023, Hamas attacks.
The court’s weeklong meeting opened Monday. Business on the agenda includes approving its budget against a backdrop of mounting pressure and unfavourable headlines. The ICC was established in 2002 as the world’s permanent court of last resort to prosecute individuals responsible for the most heinous atrocities — war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide and the crime of aggression. The US, Israel, Russia and China are among the nations that are not members.
The court only takes action when nations are unable or unwilling to prosecute those crimes on their territory. The ICC has no police force and relies on member states to execute arrest warrants. On top of staff facing sanctions and arrest warrants, Khan has stepped down temporarily pending the outcome of an investigation into allegations of sexual misconduct. He denies the allegations.
The president of the Assembly of States Parties, Paivi Kaukoranta, acknowledged the investigation into what happened between Khan and a female aide has taken longer than expected. “I am well aware that States have been frustrated with the length of this process,” she said in her opening remarks.
