UK lashes out at Washington for threatening ICC with sanctions

Judges of the International Criminal Court (ICC) should be able to work independently without fear of sanctions, the UK’s foreign secretary said in an apparent jab at Washington, which threatened the body for probing US troops.

“The UK strongly supports the International Criminal Court, ICC in tackling impunity for the worst international crimes,” Dominic Raab said. “We will continue to support positive reform of the court, so that it operates as effectively as possibly. ICC officials should be able to carry out their work independently and impartially, and without fear of sanction.”

Earlier the Donald Trump administration said any ICC officials engaged in “any effort” to investigate and prosecute US military service members for alleged crimes will face travel restrictions and economic sanctions. The threat also hangs over their family members.

The current round of tensions between the US and the ICC was triggered by the court’s investigation into alleged war crimes committed by American troops in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Libya and many other places.

The Hague-based ICC has denounced the US threat, saying it was obviously meant to sway the course of justice and was an “unacceptable attempt to interfere with the rule of law.”

Several European nations traditionally friendly with the US, including Germany, France and the Netherlands, criticized Washington for issuing the threat.

The same US government co-sponsored a one sided so called war crime allegation against Sri Lankan security forces at the UNHRC in 2015 for alleged crimes at the war with LTTE Tamil terrorists.

UK government was also working to pass a Parliament Bill to give immune for war crimes committed by its soldiers in a foreign soil.

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