America never liked the International Criminal Court (ICC) in Den Hague much. Right at the beginning George W. Bush declared they would come and get out any American soldier indicted by this court. Now Donald Trump even considers the ICC an “unusual and extraordinary threat” to the national security of the United States.1 Above all it is one woman that endangers the existence of the entire United States, the Gambian Chief Prosecutor of the court, who has started an investigation into alleged war crimes committed by American armed forces and the CIA in Afghanistan. Now the US-government shakes a fist at her and threatens drastic sanctions against anybody involved in this investigation (which includes human rights activists and non-governmental organizations which work with the ICC!), from visa restrictions for officials and their families (as we know, kin liability has always been state of the art of democratic governments), to bans on business activities (even including salaries by the ICC) and confiscation of property. The same, by the way, applies to investigations concerning Israel. The final straw of impudence is accusing the ICC of corruption, as usual without giving any evidence. Sure thing, those who investigate against the most glorious soldiers and the most tolerant and most democratic of all secret services must by definition be corrupt. Surprisingly they do not mention that Mrs Bensouda is paid by Hillary Clinton, is part of her secret circle of child abusers and responsible for Covid-19. At the press conference at which all of this was announced not a single question of the flabbergasted journalists was answered. Any questions why not?
According to Attorney General Bill Barr this is just the beginning of a campaign against the ICC which he believes infringes the sovereignty of the United States. (Interestingly the 123 countries that signed the treaty do not feel this way. Among those who, like the US, did not join the ICC are China, Iraq, Iran, North Korea, Yemen, and Libya. Nice company.) And Foreign Secretary Mike Pompeo disgraced himself by in typically colonialist style calling the ICC a “cangaroo court”. Said by politicians of a country that ever since its foundation has permanently disregarded the sovereignty of other nations.
Secretary of Defence Mark Esper pointed out that there was no need for the ICC. After all, any misconduct by American citizens, he claimed, was sanctioned appropriately by their own courts. Right. As we know, the CIA, most Republicans and most US administrations have regarded torture, water boarding for instance, a legitimate form of interrogation and savoured it appropriately in Asia, in Latin America, in the Near East. As appropriately as they sanctioned e.g. Lynnie England, who became notorious for the grossly inhuman maltreatment and abuse and torture in Abu Ghraib which was smirkingly recorded in photo sessions in which she e.g. lead naked prisoners crawling on hands and knees by a leash, and in which naked prisoners were piled up in pyramids reminding of the heaps of dead Jews in Nazi concentration camps. She was sentenced to three years and was set free after exactly 521 days in jail. (In an interview she later declared she had done nothing but her duty, and even bragged about having more than 800 further photos.2) Only leader of the gang Charles Garner had to serve six-and-a-half years. On average the participants served six to eight months and were just degraded. Some were not sentenced at all. Selling a friend a few grams of marihuana is considered a much bigger crime. Absolutely appropriate punishments, oh yeah.
As to the ICC, one should recall the purpose of this court: the prosecution of genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes. In the eyes of the Trump-administration this seems to pose an equal threat to US citizens like Al Qaida, and Fatou Bensouda is as menacing as Osama bin Laden. Threat? Violation of sovereignty? This is downright ridiculous and nothing but the customary hypocrisy and bigotry of in particular Republican governments and the notorious American ‘ubernation’-demeanor (https://www.myview-wolfgangmebs.de/the-times-they-are-achanging/).
By the way, the Roman Statute, the foundational document of the ICC, declares the intimidation of ICC officials and any attempt at obstructing their investigations a criminal offence in terms of international law. But the latter has never played a bigger role in American politics than the proverbial sack of rice. The whole campaign just proves one more time: the USA were and still are an autistic and narcissist child – and at present have the most fitting president.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/jun/11/trump-icc-us-war-crimes-investigation-sanctions
https://edition.cnn.com/2020/06/11/politics/icc-executive-order/index.html
https://www.vox.com/2020/6/12/21287798/trump-international-criminal-court-sanctions-explained