The International Criminal Court, headquartered in The Hague (Netherlands), in September 2018. (Credit: Martin Bertrand/Hans Lucas /AFP.)
BEIRUT — The European Union "deeply regrets" the United States' sanctions against four magistrates of the International Criminal Court (ICC) and strongly supports the institution in The Hague, the Commission emphasized on Friday.
"The Commission fully supports the International Criminal Court and its officials." The ICC must be "free to act without pressure," wrote the president of the European executive, Ursula von der Leyen, on the social network X. The International Criminal Court is the "cornerstone of international justice and the fight against impunity," added Anitta Hipper, spokesperson for the Commission, before the press. "We deeply regret the decision to impose sanctions on four" magistrates. "We will provide all our support to ensure the protection of the Court and its staff," she continued.
Washington sanctioned four magistrates of the International Criminal Court (ICC) on Thursday, considering that their proceedings targeting American soldiers or the Israeli executive were "illegitimate" and "politicized," an initiative immediately decried by the institution in The Hague. The announced measures - a ban on entering U.S. soil, freezing of assets held in the United States - are usually aimed at criminals or political leaders of adversary countries, rather than magistrates.
The magistrates targeted are Solomy Balungi Bossa and Luz del Carmen Ibanez Carranza, who initiated ICC investigations into alleged war crimes by American soldiers in Afghanistan. Also targeted are Reine Alapini Gansou and Beti Hohler, who authorized the ICC to issue arrest warrants against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.
The U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, called on the United States on Friday to withdraw these sanctions, expressing himself as 'deeply troubled' by these 'attacks' against the ICC.