ICC president says court has faced ‘existential’ attacks to undermine its legitimacy
The president of the International Criminal Court responded on Monday to attacks against the court since it issued warrants for the arrest of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity committed during the ongoing Israeli genocide in the Gaza Strip.
Tomoko Akane described the attacks as “existential” and told members of the court in The Hague that the ICC is facing ” coercive measures, threats” and “acts of sabotage.” She added that, “If the court collapses, this will inevitably imply the collapse of all situations and cases.”
Akane’s remarks come after ICC judges said that there were “reasonable grounds” to suspect Netanyahu and Gallant of committing war crimes and crimes against humanity in the context of Israel’s genocidal war on the Gaza Strip since 7 October 2023.
“We are at a turning point in history,” said the ICC president. “Regretfully, this is not rhetorical. International law and international justice are under threat. So is the future of humanity. The International Criminal Court will continue to carry out its lawful mandate, independently and impartially, without giving in to any outside interference.”
The ICC has also issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin, to which Moscow responded by issuing arrest warrants for senior court officials. Moreover, a number of US Republican officials have called on the Senate to impose sanctions on the ICC in response to the Netanyahu and Gallant arrest warrants.
“Several elected officials are being threatened severely and are subjected to arrest warrants from a permanent member of the UN Security Council, merely for having faithfully and diligently carried out their judicial mandate per the statutory framework and international law,” explained Akane. “The court is being threatened with draconian economic sanctions from institutions of another permanent member of the Security Council as if it was a terrorist organisation. These measures would rapidly undermine the court’s operations in all situations and cases and jeopardise its very existence.”
READ: ICC collected more evidence in last 18 months than it has in past 20 years, says chief Prosecutor