US sanctions target more ICC officials
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The United States has recently imposed sanctions on four more senior officials of the International Criminal Court, including Judge Prost, who is a Canadian national. Jens Iverson, assistant professor of international law, commented on this in The Globe and Mail, Canada’s national newspaper.
These sanctions follow earlier measures against ICC prosecutors and judges. In 2020, Prost was among five judges who unanimously authorised an investigation into crimes committed in Afghanistan, including those involving US military.
The sanctions have sparked concern over attacks on international justice institutions and the diplomatic responsibilities for Canada. With trade talks underway between Ottawa and Washington, legal experts warn of broader implications. Iverson called the sanctions ‘a hostile act’ to all countries that support the ICC. The sanctions should be seen as the US ‘abusing the power it happens to have because in the past it’s been viewed as a rule of law country. The question is what friends of the court are going to do’, he added, and whether those countries ‘have other priorities than defending the rule of law, the court and their own nationals.’
The ICC has condemned the sanctions as an attack on the international rules-based order and on millions of victims worldwide.
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Read the full article in Globe and Mail