The European Union threw its help behind the International Criminal Court on Friday after the United States imposed sanctions on 4 ICC judges – a transfer condemned by EU leaders as a menace to world justice.
Slovenia stated it will push Brussels to make sure the U.S. sanctions don’t have any authorized impact inside Europe.
“The ICC holds perpetrators of the world’s gravest crimes to account and gives victims a voice. It must be free to act without pressure,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen posted on X.
European Council President Antonio Costa referred to as the courtroom “a cornerstone of international justice” and harassed the necessity to defend its independence and integrity.
The Biden administration’s sanctions got here in retaliation for the courtroom’s issuance of an arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and its earlier determination to research alleged warfare crimes by U.S. forces in Afghanistan.
The U.S. order names Solomy Balungi Bossa of Uganda, Luz del Carmen Ibanez Carranza of Peru, Reine Adelaide Sophie Alapini-Gansou of Benin, and Beti Hohler of Slovenia.
The U.S. sanctions place the judges on a listing of specifically designated people. Any U.S. property they maintain might be frozen, and they are going to be flagged by an automatic screening service used not solely by American banks however by monetary establishments globally, making it extraordinarily tough for them to carry or open financial institution accounts or switch cash.
Former President Donald Trump’s preliminary order saying sanctions on the ICC additionally said that U.S. residents who present providers benefiting sanctioned people may face civil or legal penalties.
Slovenia urged the EU to invoke its “blocking statute,” which permits Brussels to ban European firms from complying with U.S. sanctions that the EU deems illegal. The regulation has beforehand been used to protect European commerce with Cuba and Iran.
“Due to the inclusion of a citizen of an EU member state on the sanctions list, Slovenia will propose the immediate activation of the blocking act,” Slovenia’s Foreign Ministry stated in a submit on X late Thursday.
ICC President Judge Tomoko Akane had already urged the EU in March to deliver the ICC beneath the scope of the blocking statute.
The new sanctions come at a tough time for the ICC, which remains to be reeling from earlier U.S. measures towards its chief prosecutor, Karim Khan, who quickly stepped apart final month amid a United Nations investigation into alleged sexual misconduct.
The courtroom’s governing physique, which represents its 125 member states, on Friday condemned the U.S. authorities’s actions.
“These are regrettable attempts to impede the court and its personnel in the exercise of their independent judicial functions,” the presidency of the Assembly of States Parties stated.
Source: www.dailysabah.com