The United States said it will deny visas to any individual involved in initiating investigations or prosecutions against U.S. personnel at the International Criminal Court (ICC), Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo announced on Friday.<\/p>\n
Pompeo said that the goal of the new policy, already being implemented, is to have the ICC change course with regards to the U.S. and its allies, especially Israel, NAN reports<\/p>\n
\u201cFurther measures, including economic sanctions, could follow,\u2019\u2019 Pompeo warned.<\/p>\n
He appeared to be referring in particular to requests for investigations with regards to U.S. military actions in Afghanistan.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe ICC is attacking America\u2019s rule of law,\u2019\u2019 Pompeo said, adding that \u201cit is not too late to change course and we urge it to do so immediately\u201d.<\/p>\n
Pompeo described the ICC as an organisation that has \u201cbroad, unaccountable\u201d powers.<\/p>\n
The U.S. top diplomat did not disclose how many people are being affected by the new U.S. sanctions.<\/p>\n
James Goldston, the executive director of Open Society Justice Initiative, said the new sanctions would undermine efforts to hold to account those responsible for the worst war crimes.<\/p>\n
\u201cSecretary Pompeo\u2019s remarks reflect this Administration\u2019s view that international law matters only when it is aligned with U.S. national interests.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut that\u2019s not how law works,\u2019\u2019 he said on Twitter.<\/p>\n
The ICC came into being in 2002 with over 120 members, including most European nations.<\/p>\n
The U.S. is not a party to the ICC, along with other major powers, including Russia and China.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The United States said it will deny visas to any individual involved in initiating investigations or prosecutions against U.S. personnel at the International Criminal Court (ICC), Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo announced on Friday. Pompeo said that the goal of the new policy, already being implemented, is to have the ICC change course with regards […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":62,"featured_media":6588,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,14],"tags":[360,231,490,373,489],"class_list":["post-6584","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-policy","tag-eu","tag-military","tag-sanction","tag-us","tag-visa"],"yoast_head":"\n