The International Criminal Court, heir to the Nuremberg Court that tried Nazi leaders after World War II, plays an irreplaceable role in bringing justice to the victims of the most serious crimes committed around the world.
And yet, the president of the United States president decided to sanction it.
The sanctions include anyone cooperating with the ICC, including individuals, NGOs, companies and lawyers. They seriously compromise the court’s operation, and dash thousands of victims’ hopes for justice.
As defenders of a rule-based world, we have a responsibility to protect the ICC because it is a crucial common good for humankind. As victims, we defend the ICC because it is our only hope for justice.
Since its inception in 2002, the court has indicted 68 individuals, 33 of which have been tried, bringing justice to some of the civilians who were massacred in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Mali for over more than two decades. But Ukrainian children deported by Russia’s regime, and victims of atrocities committed in Afghanistan, Darfur, Libya, Myanmar and Venezuela are still awaiting and deserving of justice — as are the Israelis massacred by Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023 and the Gazan civilians who are victims of Israel’s war crimes.
The very same U.S. officials who now criticize the ICC’s arrest warrants against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, had welcomed the warrants that were issued against Russian President Vladimir Putin and Children’s Rights Commissioner Maria Lvova-Belova in March 2023. At the time, Senator Lindsey Graham, currently one of the ICC’s most outspoken critics, had described these warrants as “an important step for a world order based on the rule of law.”
Indeed, this rules-based world order is a crucial global common good that must be preserved. Justice cannot be two-tiered: It cannot fluctuate according to the geopolitical alliances of the Rome Statute’s 125 signatories.
Furthermore, Europe cannot let the current U.S. administration destroy the EU’s core values. It cannot allow the destruction of the already-too-weak multilateral tools we have in place to protect fundamental human rights. For the sake of victims, as well as ourselves and the protection of our sovereignty, we cannot let the U.S. administration decide whether we — or any country in need — can or cannot launch an investigation, ask for reparations for victims or condemn a war criminal.
Protecting the court from external sanctions and pressure is not just a political choice, it is a legal obligation for all signatories of the Rome Statute, under the Agreement on the Privileges and Immunities of the ICC, which was adopted at its creation.
That’s why, as defenders of a rule-based world order, as victims and the representatives of victims, we call on the EU’s member countries and institutions to activate the “Blocking statute” to counter these U.S. sanctions.
An instrument aimed to shield EU-based individuals and enterprises from the extraterritorial effects of sanctions decided by non-EU countries, this statute would allow continued lawful relations with the court. It has already been used to protect European companies from U.S. sanctions against Cuba and Iran. What signal would we be sending if we didn’t activate it now, to counter sanctions against the ICC?
We call on the EU’s member countries and institutions to be the voice of human dignity globally, and to mobilize, defend and support the ICC. Let us not allow such a blow to an already fragile rules-based world order.
Mounir Satouri
Member of the European Parliament
Josep Borrell
Former EU high representative / European Commission vice-president
Denis Mukwege
Nobel Peace Prize, 2018
David Yambio
Victim of Almasri in Libya, president for the Refugees in Libya Association
Freshta Karimi
Children’s rights activist, Sakharov Prize nominee, 2021
Horia Mosadiq
Human rights activist, Sakharov Prize nominee, 2021
Ukrainian Center for Civil Liberties
Sakharov Prize, 2022
Francisco Assis
Member of the European Parliament
Hana Jalloul Muro
Member of the European Parliament
Chloé Ridel
Member of the European Parliament