U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk said Tuesday that actions against the International Criminal Court (ICC) are testing the international system for accountability, Anadolu Agency reported.
At an event in The Hague, Türk cited U.S. sanctions, criminal proceedings involving ICC officials and disinformation about the court. He said the actions sought “to isolate and paralyze the Court,” Anadolu reported.
Türk separately criticized some countries that are parties to the Rome Statute for not carrying out arrest warrants or cooperating with the ICC in particular cases, Anadolu reported. He warned that weakening international justice institutions would make it harder for future generations to hold abuses of power to account.
The ICC said the United States imposed sanctions on the court as an institution Oct. 9. In a statement that day, the Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) said Türk urged the ICC’s 125 States Parties to the Rome Statute to defend the court and called for protection for people and groups working with it.
The ICC said the measures could disrupt its judicial operations and deter people from cooperating with it, a warning also covered in EconoTimes’ earlier report on the court’s response to sanctions.
On Monday, ICC President Tomoko Akane delivered a prerecorded address to the U.N. General Assembly. The ICC said she called on states and the international community to support the court amid threats. The Associated Press reported that Akane addressed the assembly remotely because of U.S. sanctions.
