The International Criminal Court (ICC), established by the Rome Statute (1998), represents a milestone in the pursuit of international justice. Conceived as a court of last resort to prosecute the perpetrators of the most serious crimes of international concern, the ICC has been a beacon of hope for victims of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes.
However, this independent and impartial court faces a constant threat: political pressures that now arise from Russia and Israel, since the year 2023 when arrest warrants were issued against Vladimir Putin. On 21 November 2024, arrest warrants were issued against Benjamin Netanyahu and his former War Minister and the military leader of Hamas. Which caused public statements by the current government of Israel and the future cabinet of Donald Trump, president-elect of the USA, in order to threaten sanctions against the prosecutor and judges of the Court. A sad interference that demonstrates the colonial mentality of these states.
The Rome Statute, the founding treaty of the ICC, establishes a solid legal framework for prosecuting the most serious crimes of concern to the international community. The principle of complementarity, for example, ensures that the court intervenes only when national judicial systems are unable or unwilling to investigate or prosecute such crimes. This principle seeks to avoid interference in the internal affairs of states, but also ensures that perpetrators do not go unpunished.
However, the political nature of many cases that come to the ICC makes it an easy target for pressure from powerful states or interest groups with particular agendas. These pressures can take many forms, ranging from refusal to cooperate with the court, through intimidation of witnesses and judges, to manipulation of public opinion. Let’s not forget that the former administration of Donald Truman punished the former Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda with the prohibition to enter the USA and freezing their bank accounts for the sole fact of investigating military personnel of the US army for crimes committed in Afghanistan.
The independence of the ICC is essential to ensure its credibility and effectiveness. Any attempt to undermine its authority or influence its decisions constitutes a direct threat to the international order based on the rule of law. That is why the international community must redouble its efforts to protect the Court from political pressure.
How can we achieve this? First, it is necessary that the States parties to the Rome Statute fully comply with their obligations by cooperating with the Court and respecting its decisions. Secondly, civil society must play an active role in defending the ICC, denouncing any attempt to interfere with its work and demanding that their governments support this court. Finally, the media have a responsibility to report objectively and truthfully on the activities of the Court, thus contributing to greater public understanding and support.
In conclusion, the International Criminal Court is an invaluable tool for combating impunity. Moreover, we have now more than 14 months since the colonial invasion of Israel into the Gaza Strip, where death, hunger and pain has taken the lives of over 45,000 people, largely undefended civilian population and has led to the forced displacement of almost two million Palestinians within this besieged and blocked territory by land, sea and air. The court, in issuing arrest warrants, wants to ensure that military commanders of war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by the Israeli army in Gaza and the West Bank are brought before the court, the tactics of such an exercise constitute war crimes that the Court is investigating and it is therefore important to protect its impartial performance.
However, to achieve the goal of stopping the imminent genocide in Palestine and the disappearance of children in Ukraine by the Russian regime, we need the survival and effectiveness of the ICC, It depends on our collective commitment to justice and the defence of human rights. It is time to reaffirm our support for the ICC and ensure that it can fully fulfil its mandate. We are betting the future of the international human rights system on its survival.
Written by Rodolfo Marcone- Lo Presti, lawyer with a PhD in Philosophy of Law, M.U in Law, Business and Justice; M.U in Constitutional Law, University of Valencia, Spain.
