“Am I okay?” my friend and colleague MP texted. “Where should I go? Am I going to end up on a list?” I sighed, grabbed my phone and texted back, “you’re fine. I don’t think you need to go anywhere.” I hesitantly put the phone down, thinking I probably sounded overly dismissive, and texted again. “Plus if you were to be on a list, I’m sure you already are anyway. So keep on doing your thing!” Somehow, it didn’t reassure MP as much as it should have.
On Thursday, an oversensitive and emotional rich white man penned an irrational and disorganised Executive Order, the only actions he seems able to take, not being fully cognisant of what governance requires. The long text, penned without Microsoft Word’s grammatical assistance, is a monumental brick aimed at the glass windows of the International Criminal Court. A full 6,159km (I googled it) from the site of this Executive Order, issued by a country not a member of the governing treaty, the Court is not particularly impressed. It did not stop its work in 2020, and it will not in 2025. However, the language is much broader than the previous sanctions issued back then, which “only” targeted the General Prosecutor and the Office of the Tribunal Prosecutor (OTP).
This time, under the watchful eye of alleged war criminal and genocidaire Benyamin Netanyahu, Trump decided to declare the Court - that, again, the US is not even a part of - “illegitimate”. Seeing that this poor judgement call had little to no effect on a profession that does not recognise the legitimacy of Donald Trump, the only escalation possible was the use of force now targeting international law as a whole. Note that, at no point, in this Order, is Trump asserting the ICC did not have a legal basis to claim territorial jurisdiction over Palestine, or had no legal basis to issue arrest warrants against Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Gallant. It just spat out “legitimacy” as a supremely subjective concept. But of course, the eyebrows were raised over the “dangerous precedent” Trump claims the ICC attempts to set.
As usual, the far right is engulfed with rage over the most basic display of accountability. The precedent is one of possible oversight, and provided us with this Napoleon-esque decision-making: “The United States will impose tangible and significant consequences on those responsible for the ICC’s transgressions” (of what?) ranging from asset seizures to travel bans. Section I (ii) A-C clearly extends to any international lawyer, not a US resident, having participated in any of the investigations, evidence gathering missions, and analysis conducted by the ICC against Israel and against the United States (in case anyone forgot about the Afghanistan investigation). This Order targets not just a few, but hundreds of legal professionals and scholars. It places particular stress on those of us who have worked for, in, or around commissions of inquiry and reside all over the United States.
For the avoidance of doubt, let me make very clear that this will not impact the work of the Court; it never did. It will not affect the work of the General Prosecutor; it never did. It will never lead to a withdrawal of those arrest warrants; this won’t even be considered. In his rush to flex his non-existent muscles against what causes him a slight inconvenience, Trump forgot that not everyone is watching, or is interested in watching. Stating elsewhere in the document that “the United States remains committed to accountability and the peaceful cultivation (sic) of international order” is only worth the quality of the whitehouse dot gov website this was published in. “The ICC and parties to the Rome Statute must respect the decisions of the United States” is risible, “and not subject their personnel to the ICC’s jurisdiction” makes me wonder if the Attorney General has indeed even read the Order. Trump seems to confuse “sovereign prerogative” with “royal prerogative”, demonstrated by his unilateral dismantlement of a Republic he wants to turn into a nuclear wasteland.
From Thursday, we are all under a 60-day notice waiting on a decision regarding who will be directly named by the Treasury, and how section I will apply to our collective visas. For those residing within the United States, this may mean contingency plans, preservation of assets, international protection; this will inevitably result in a paralysis of legal action within the United States. It will deprive the country of its best and brightest, will dim the influence of the United States on the world stage, and continue to enshrine it as a threat to the global rule of law. Trump’s quest for absolute isolationism will sicken, starve, and endanger the country. If any of those preliminary statements about the ICC’s role, jurisdiction, and scope were true, nothing is stopping the US from joining the Rome Statute and taking part in the Assembly of State Parties (ASPs), saying what it needs to say where and when it matters. Alas, this would require some introspection, and probably some legal advice on the risks of accepting territorial jurisdiction.
It seems that, for an illegitimate body, the ICC is terrifying this administration. I, for one, am grateful that it is now acknowledged by Executive Order that our collective legal work, worldwide, has irritated a despot. It is the reason why people like MP and myself have become lawyers: to be witnesses of violence, but with the capacity to act against it. Thanks for the ammunition, Donald.
On Thursday, an oversensitive and emotional rich white man penned an irrational and disorganised Executive Order, the only actions he seems able to take, not being fully cognisant of what governance requires. The long text, penned without Microsoft Word’s grammatical assistance, is a monumental brick aimed at the glass windows of the International Criminal Court. A full 6,159km (I googled it) from the site of this Executive Order, issued by a country not a member of the governing treaty, the Court is not particularly impressed. It did not stop its work in 2020, and it will not in 2025. However, the language is much broader than the previous sanctions issued back then, which “only” targeted the General Prosecutor and the Office of the Tribunal Prosecutor (OTP).
This time, under the watchful eye of alleged war criminal and genocidaire Benyamin Netanyahu, Trump decided to declare the Court - that, again, the US is not even a part of - “illegitimate”. Seeing that this poor judgement call had little to no effect on a profession that does not recognise the legitimacy of Donald Trump, the only escalation possible was the use of force now targeting international law as a whole. Note that, at no point, in this Order, is Trump asserting the ICC did not have a legal basis to claim territorial jurisdiction over Palestine, or had no legal basis to issue arrest warrants against Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Gallant. It just spat out “legitimacy” as a supremely subjective concept. But of course, the eyebrows were raised over the “dangerous precedent” Trump claims the ICC attempts to set.
As usual, the far right is engulfed with rage over the most basic display of accountability. The precedent is one of possible oversight, and provided us with this Napoleon-esque decision-making: “The United States will impose tangible and significant consequences on those responsible for the ICC’s transgressions” (of what?) ranging from asset seizures to travel bans. Section I (ii) A-C clearly extends to any international lawyer, not a US resident, having participated in any of the investigations, evidence gathering missions, and analysis conducted by the ICC against Israel and against the United States (in case anyone forgot about the Afghanistan investigation). This Order targets not just a few, but hundreds of legal professionals and scholars. It places particular stress on those of us who have worked for, in, or around commissions of inquiry and reside all over the United States.
For the avoidance of doubt, let me make very clear that this will not impact the work of the Court; it never did. It will not affect the work of the General Prosecutor; it never did. It will never lead to a withdrawal of those arrest warrants; this won’t even be considered. In his rush to flex his non-existent muscles against what causes him a slight inconvenience, Trump forgot that not everyone is watching, or is interested in watching. Stating elsewhere in the document that “the United States remains committed to accountability and the peaceful cultivation (sic) of international order” is only worth the quality of the whitehouse dot gov website this was published in. “The ICC and parties to the Rome Statute must respect the decisions of the United States” is risible, “and not subject their personnel to the ICC’s jurisdiction” makes me wonder if the Attorney General has indeed even read the Order. Trump seems to confuse “sovereign prerogative” with “royal prerogative”, demonstrated by his unilateral dismantlement of a Republic he wants to turn into a nuclear wasteland.
From Thursday, we are all under a 60-day notice waiting on a decision regarding who will be directly named by the Treasury, and how section I will apply to our collective visas. For those residing within the United States, this may mean contingency plans, preservation of assets, international protection; this will inevitably result in a paralysis of legal action within the United States. It will deprive the country of its best and brightest, will dim the influence of the United States on the world stage, and continue to enshrine it as a threat to the global rule of law. Trump’s quest for absolute isolationism will sicken, starve, and endanger the country. If any of those preliminary statements about the ICC’s role, jurisdiction, and scope were true, nothing is stopping the US from joining the Rome Statute and taking part in the Assembly of State Parties (ASPs), saying what it needs to say where and when it matters. Alas, this would require some introspection, and probably some legal advice on the risks of accepting territorial jurisdiction.
It seems that, for an illegitimate body, the ICC is terrifying this administration. I, for one, am grateful that it is now acknowledged by Executive Order that our collective legal work, worldwide, has irritated a despot. It is the reason why people like MP and myself have become lawyers: to be witnesses of violence, but with the capacity to act against it. Thanks for the ammunition, Donald.
⏩ Sarah Kay is an international human rights lawyer now described as “an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States” . . . again
Sarah - other than carry on as you have been, what is there to be said? The world gets that bit more dangerous year by year.
ReplyDelete