The EU calls on the US to lift sanctions against the ICC: ‘Ready to take any measures’. Nobel laureate Pillay: ‘Unprecedented’
Brussels has expressed regret at the US measures and stated that it is ready to take action to safeguard the Court’s functioning. Nobel laureate Pillay: ‘Unprecedented and unacceptable sanctions’
The EU urges the US to withdraw the new sanctions against the International Criminal Court (ICC) and says it is “ready to take all necessary measures to ensure that the Court can continue to operate effectively and fulfil its vital mandate”.
This was stated by High Representative Kaja Kallas in a statement on behalf of the EU, in which Brussels expresses ‘deep regret’ at the US sanctions against the ICC but ‘welcomes the US’s willingness to discuss its concerns with the States Parties to the Rome Statute and “takes note of the US decision to postpone the entry into force of the latest measures”.’
This ‘creates scope for diplomacy, with the aim of securing a swift lifting of the sanctions and preventing further measures designed to undermine the Court’s independence and integrity’.
“Attacks or threats against the Court, its elected representatives, its staff and those who cooperate with it, including representatives of civil society and service providers, are unacceptable”, the EU emphasises, reiterating that the ICC “must be able to operate independently, free from external pressure or interference”. Brussels will continue to provide “full support” and to contribute to the protection of the Court, its staff and those who work with it.
South African judge Navi Pillay, former United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and winner of this year’s Nobel Peace Prize, has described the sanctions announced by the United States against the ICC as “unprecedented and unacceptable”. “There is a great deal of tension and apprehension regarding the survival of international courts, in particular the International Criminal Court in The Hague… But above all, a country has announced sanctions against judges, solely on the basis of the judicial orders they have issued. This is unprecedented and unacceptable,” said Pillay via video link from Nuremberg during an event at the Nobel Peace Centre in Oslo.
