Countries oppose sanctions U.S. seeks

UNITED NATIONS — More than 70 nations voiced opposition Monday to what they consider threats to the International Criminal Court and decried sanctions on its top officials, issuing a statement that did not name any country but was aimedat the U.S.

They said that “any attempt to undermine the independence of the court should not be tolerated.”

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced Sept. 2 that the U.S. was imposing sanctions, including a freeze on assets held in the U.S. or subject to U.S. law, on ICC chief prosecutor Fatou Bensouda and the tribunal’s head of jurisdiction, Phakiso Mochochoko, over the court’s continuing investigation ofwar crimes allegations against Americans.

A joint statement from 71 parties to the Rome Statute that established the court to prosecute genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity reiterated their commitment “to preserve the tribunal’s integrity and independence undeterred by any measures or threats against the court, its officials and those cooperating with it.”

The statement referred to a Sept. 2 statement by OGon Kwon, president of the court’s 123-nation Assembly of States Parties, in which he called the U.S. sanctions “unprecedented and unacceptable” and an affront to efforts to combat impunity for war crimes.

In March 2019, Pompeo ordered the revocation or denial of visas to Bensouda and ICC staff seeking to investigate allegations of war crimes and other abuses by U.S. forces in Afghanistan or elsewhere. He also said he might revoke the visas of those who seek action against Israel.

Prosecutors have been conducting a preliminary inquiry since 2015 in the Palestinian territories, including on Israel’s settlement policy, crimes allegedly committed by both sides in the 2014 Gaza conflict and Hamas rocket attacks aimed at Israeli civilians.