Biden’s administration is facing growing criticism for not lifting U.S. sanctions imposed last year on war crimes prosecutors at the international criminal court, amid reports that Israel lobbying to keep them in place.
The sanctions, which targeted officials at ICC prosecutors and their families were imposed by the Trump administration in September in retaliation for launching investigations into the Afghanistan-Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Days after Joe Biden was inaugurated, the state department said that while the new administration did not agree with the decision to launch these investigations, “the sanctions will be reviewed in detail as that we will determine our next steps “.
Over a month later, no move was made to lift the sanctions, a state department spokesman said this week that they had no further comment. Failure in action has provoked discontent among U.S. allies in Europe and elsewhere, which strongly support the ICC.
Axios news site from Tel Aviv reported Wednesday that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has lobbied Biden, in his first phone call since the inauguration of the new president, to keep the sanctions in place. .
In December, the ICC prosecutor stated that there were reasons to open an investigation in the West Bank and Gaza, and a panel of judges earlier this month agreed that the prosecutor had jurisdiction. .
Like the US, Israel does not sign a treaty with Rome developing the ICC, but Afghanistan and the Palestinian Authority do.
The Israeli embassy in Washington did not respond to a request for comment.
The Trump administration not only controlled ICC officials involved in the investigation of war crimes committed by the U.S. and its allies, it also imposed visa restrictions on the families of those officers. They also said it would launch a counter-investigation into the ICC for alleged corruption, although it is unclear if such an investigation was ever launched.
The justice department did not respond to an inquiry into the status of the investigation.
Legal sources say the continuing threat of sanctions has severely hampered investigations into tensions by both sides in Afghanistan, the West Bank and Gaza, as lawyers and institutions have been deceived. cooperating with the ICC in case they impose U.S. sanctions on it. themselves.
Earlier this month, more than 70 human rights groups, faith-based groups and academic institutions appealed for the lifting of sanctions, which they described as “an unprecedented attack on the court’s order of justice and the rule of the world.” global law delivery, abuse of US government financial powers, and exploitation of U.S. legacy in international justice institutions ”.
Diplomats and experts argued that the Biden administration would eventually lift the sanctions, but sought a way to do so without seeming to support ICC investigations there. Afghanistan and the Palestinian Territories.
“The U.S. relationship with the ICC is in a much more complicated place than it was when the Obama administration took over,” said David Bosco, author of a book on the ICC, called Rough Justice.
“The ICC now has an investigation in Afghanistan that includes an investigation into U.S. workers and in fact the judges have just made it clear that the prosecutor can conduct an investigation in Palestine . “
Bosco said: “In this environment, it is difficult to know how the U.S. should go to court, and I think the administration has decided that they must do all they can- assess work before lifting the sanctions. “