Chief Prosecutor Khan first on US ICC sanctions blacklist

0
3K

The move bars Karim Khan from the U.S. and freezes any U.S. assets he may have

 

Karim Khan, the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, has become the first person working for the court to be subjected to economic and travel sanctions by the Trump administration, two sources briefed on the matter told Reuters on Friday.

President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Thursday directing Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Secretary of State Marco Rubio to submit a report within 60 days naming people who should be sanctioned. Khan’s name was designated in an annex a day later, which was not yet made public, according to the report.

Those blacklisted are barred from entry into the U.S., along with their families, and their U.S. assets are frozen.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who met last week with Trump in the White House, praised the move during a visit to Congress on Friday.

He called the ICC “scandalous,” saying it “threatens the right of all democracies to defend themselves.” In November, the court issued arrest warrants for the Israeli premier and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for alleged war crimes committed in Gaza.

Trump’s move targeting the Hague-based ICC over its investigations of U.S. citizens and U.S. allies is a repeat of a measure he took during his first term, when in June 2020 he ordered economic and travel sanctions against International Criminal Court employees involved in an investigation into whether U.S. troops committed war crimes in Afghanistan.

The tribunal on Friday decried the sanctions, vowing to back its staff and “continue providing justice and hope to millions of innocent victims of atrocities across the world, in all situations before it,” Reuters reported.

Two-thirds of the court’s member states, 79 in total, issued a joint statement warning that the U.S. measure could “threaten to erode the international rule of law.

It added, “Sanctions would severely undermine all situations currently under investigation as the Court may have to close its field offices.

Khan, who is British, paid a visit to New York as recently as Jan. 27 to brief the U.N. Security Council on Sudan.

As the chief prosecutor is a frequent traveler to New York, U.N. deputy spokesperson Farhan Haq said on Friday that “we trust that any restrictions taken against individuals would be implemented consistently with the host country’s obligations under the U.N. Headquarters agreement.”

Trump’s order from Thursday includes a declaration of a national emergency to respond to the court’s “unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States.

The ICC’s recent actions against Israel and the United States set a dangerous precedent, directly endangering current and former United States personnel, including active service members of the Armed Forces, by exposing them to harassment, abuse and possible arrest,” the order states.

Neither the United States nor Israel is a member of the court, which is a stand-alone entity and is not part of the United Nations. Both Washington and Jerusalem assert that they are not subject to the tribunal’s jurisdiction.

 

***

 

 

Like
1
Site içinde arama yapın
Kategoriler
Read More
Cloak & Dagger
Shipboard Guards Exchanged Fire with Attackers in Latest Red Sea Incident
Armed guards on a fuel tanker exchanged gunfire with a small boat in the Red Sea, another sign of...
By NavyVetUnited 2023-12-13 19:13:53 0 11K
News & Politics
The Houthi propaganda evokes sympathy in Arab world - New York Times
The "New York Times" reported that the media propaganda of the Houthis has become global, and...
By Operation Prosperity Guardian 2024-01-28 13:05:50 0 8K
News & Politics
Government at Risk of Shutdown Again After McCarthy Ouster and GOP ‘Civil War’
Passage of the annual federal budget could be further delayed after House Republicans voted on...
By NavyVetUnited 2023-10-06 18:18:41 0 14K
Real Time Facts
US faith in Zelensky puts world on brink of WW3, says Medvedchuk
  By placing its trust in snake oil salesman Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky,...
By NavyVetUnited 2024-10-09 10:03:16 0 4K
Real Time Facts
World leaders greet terror-supporting Palestinian Authority figure at Olympics
The 2024 Paris Olympics has served as a warm environment for terror-supporting Fatah Central...
By NavyVetUnited 2024-08-11 15:36:30 0 9K
X-Pulse, the HO1 Think Tank https://thinktank.x-pulse.org/