The USA is trying to mobilize its NATO allies in a campaign for the “systematic dismantling” of the International Criminal Court (ICC), further straining the already tense transatlantic relations.
During a closed-door meeting of the 32 NATO ambassadors, held in Brussels in mid-July, the US envoy, Matthew Whitaker, asked NATO countries for help in dismantling this international body and urged them to withdraw from the founding document of the ICC, the Rome Statute, three NATO diplomats who were granted anonymity told News.ro, according to Politico.
Whitaker concluded his speech by saying, “We will carefully watch who is on America’s side,” the three diplomats declared.
The pressure exerted on allies to leave the Court – driven by US concern that its own officials could be criminally prosecuted for war crimes – is part of a broader campaign by the Trump administration against institutions and international norms considered to limit US freedom of action. The White House has taken steps to withdraw the US from the Paris Agreement on climate change, has withdrawn from the World Health Organization (WHO), has ended US participation in the UN Human Rights Council and has exerted pressure on companies to boycott this week’s space summit in Paris, while also launching a series of trade wars.
In parallel with Whitaker’s comments, the US mission conveyed a document to NATO delegations stating: “The United States will systematically dismantle the ICC’s capabilities (…) we strongly urge you to take immediate action to withdraw”, according to details of the document shared with Politico.
Moreover, the US has urged allies to “examine the threat” that the ICC represents to their own countries, to “publicly condemn” the “overstepping of its authority” by this court, and to “immediately cease” any material support provided to the Court.
“Let’s put an end once and for all to this farce of the ICC”, is the call from the document.
Although NATO is not a signatory to the Court’s Statute, all members of the alliance, with the exception of Turkey and the United States, are part of the ICC.
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