“The International Criminal Court judges crimes against humanity. The US commits them frequently. US 'sanctions' the Court's Prosecutor and threatens all judges to avoid investigation on its atrocious crimes: an illegal practice that amounts to a confession of guilt”, Arreaza wrote on his Twitter page on late Wednesday.
La Corte Penal Internacional juzga crímenes de lesa humanidad. EEUU los comete con frecuencia. EEUU "sanciona" a la Fiscal de la Corte y amenaza a todos los jueces para impedir que se investiguen sus crímenes atroces: clara práctica ilegal que equivale a una confesión de parte. https://t.co/Q3NA7h6pgy
— Jorge Arreaza M (@jaarreaza) September 2, 2020
On Wednesday, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said that prosecutor Fatou Bensouda from the Gambia and the Head of the Jurisdiction, Complementarity and Cooperation Division, Phakiso Mochochoko from Lesotho, had been added to the Office of Foreign Assets Control’s Specially Designated Nationals List.
President of the Assembly of States Parties O-Gon Kwon has condemned the new US sanctions, stressing that the ICC is an independent and impartial judicial institution that strictly abides by the provisions of the Rome Statute in its operation.
In March, the ICC authorized the commencement of an investigation into alleged war crimes committed by parties to the conflict in Afghanistan, including US personnel. In response, on 11 June, US President Donald Trump issued an executive order authorizing sanctions against ICC officials.
