John Bolton attacks ICC as ‘illegitimate’ which is ‘already dead to us’
On Monday at the Federalist Society, National Security Advisor, John Bolton criticized the International Criminal Court (ICC) and threatened sanctions against the legal body, calling it “illegitimate.”
John Bolton
Image/donkeyhotey
“I’m here to make a major announcement on U.S. policy towards the International Criminal Court or ICC,” Bolton began. “After years of effort by self-styled global governance advocates, the ICC a supranational tribunal that could supersede national sovereignties and directly prosecute individuals for alleged war crimes was agreed in 1998.”
Bolton went on to proclaim that the U.S. will not cooperate with the ICC, even financially.
“We will provide no assistance to the ICC. And we certainly will not join the ICC,” he said. “We will let the ICC die on its own. After all, for all intents and purposes, the ICC is already dead to us.”
An ICC prosecutor asked to investigate alleged crimes committed by members of the U.S. military who served in Afghanistan.
“Today, on the eve of September 11th, I want to deliver a clear and unambiguous message on behalf of the President of the United States,” Bolton said. “The United States will use any means necessary to protect our citizens and those of our allies from unjust prosecution by this illegitimate court.”
Bolton reportedly threatened to ban ICC judges and prosecutors from the U.S. and to impose sanctions on any funds they might have in the U.S. financial system.
Bolton admitted that “in theory, the ICC holds perpetrators of the most egregious atrocities accountable for their crimes, provides justice to the victims, and deters future abuses.” However, in practice, he said the court “has been ineffective, unaccountable, and indeed, outright dangerous.”
Bolton claims that the court was created to “contain the United States.”
“The objective was not limited to targeting individual U.S. service members, but rather America’s senior political leadership, and its relentless determination to keep our country secure,” he said.
“[W]e will remember that cooperation when setting U.S. foreign assistance, military assistance and intelligence-sharing levels,” Bolton said.
