EU calls for full cooperation with the ICC as Washington expands sanctions and diplomatic pressure.

On Thursday, the European Union (EU) reaffirmed its support for the International Criminal Court (ICC), on the eve of the International Day of International Criminal Justice and just days after the United States launched a campaign aimed at dismantling the Hague-based institution.

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“The ICC is the cornerstone of the international criminal justice system. It ensures accountability for the most serious crimes of concern to the international community as a whole,” EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs Kaja Kallas said in a statement issued on behalf of the 27 member states.

“The European Union will continue to support the ICC through political, diplomatic, financial and practical means, including by strengthening national justice systems in accordance with the principle of complementarity,” she said and reiterated the EU’s commitment “to the universality, integrity and full implementation of the Rome Statute system,” the founding treaty of the Hague court.

The court “must be able to carry out its mandate free from pressure, intimidation or interference,” the EU statement said, underscoring the “utmost importance” of ensuring that the court “can continue ongoing investigations and cases currently under judicial examination arising from situations around the world.”

On Monday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced a campaign to bar ICC personnel from entering the United States and expand sanctions against its members and affiliated organizations.

The administration of U.S. President Donald Trump will also convene ambassadors and senior officials from foreign nations to present what Rubio described as “the ICC’s abuses” and urge them to withdraw from the organization. Rubio also accused the court of seeking to become “an unaccountable global arbiter.”

In addition to the fact that the United States is not a party to the Rome Statute, it has sanctioned senior officials of the Hague court for investigating war crimes committed by U.S. personnel in Afghanistan and for taking action against Israeli officials.

teleSUR/ JF

Source: EFE

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