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BRUSSELS — The European Union on Tuesday slammed threats against the International Criminal Court, after Washington vowed a sweeping campaign against the tribunal.
“We are strongly committed to international criminal justice and the fight against impunity. Attacks or threats against the court-elected officials, personnel or those cooperating with the court, are simply not acceptable,” EU spokesman Anouar El Anouni said.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Monday that the Trump administration is launching an effort to dismantle what it calls the threat to US sovereignty by the ICC.
In a video message posted on Monday, Rubio said the ICC was initially intended to prosecute only the gravest offenses, but had turned out to be “something far more radical and extreme,” adding that the Trump administration would not allow the court to threaten US personnel.
“As we speak, the ICC and its friends are waging a war against our country, not with bullets and missiles, but with statutes, compacts, and the force of so-called international law,” Rubio said in the video message, asserting that Border Patrol agents, Marines and prosecutors working on terrorism cases could face prosecution by the court.
The court has taken no steps to investigate US personnel in recent years.
Reuters found the Trump administration backed sanctions against ICC officials in part to head off any future attempts to hold Trump or his officials accountable for US military action overseas. — Agence France-Presse with a report from Reuters
