'Horrifying': ICC president says threats and sanctions put court at risk | ICC News

US politicians are threatening to sanction judicial officials over the arrest warrant for Israeli President Benjamin Netanyahu.

The president of the International Criminal Court (ICC) has warned that attacks on the tribunal, which come largely from Washington and Moscow, “threaten its very existence”.

Addressing ICC members in The Hague at an annual conference on Monday, ICC President Tomoko Akane said the court was facing “coercive measures, threats, pressure and acts of sabotage,” without naming the United States and Russia.

The court then faced rebukes from both sides issuing arrest warrants for Israeli and Russian officials about the wars in Gaza and Ukraine.

“The court is being threatened with draconian economic sanctions by another permanent member of the Security Council as if it were a terrorist organization,” Akane said in her address.

US politicians threaten to impose sanctions on ICC officials after tribunal issues arrest warrants against Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former defense minister, Yoav Gallant, on suspicion of war crimes in Gaza.

Last month, US Senator Lindsey Graham, whose Republican Party will control both houses of Congress and the White House from January, called the ICC a “dangerous joke” and threatened sanctions against the court and any country that cooperates with it.

“To every ally — Canada, Great Britain, Germany, France — if you try to help the ICC, we will sanction you,” Graham said on Fox News.

In June, controlled by Republicans The US House of Representatives passed a bill to sanction the court in response to ICC prosecutor Karim Khan's request for the arrest warrants against Israeli officials.

The measure has not yet been considered by the Senate, which is currently controlled by Democrats.

After the ICC issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu, Gallant and a Hamas leader last month, US Senator Tom Cotton suggested the use of military force against the Hague-based tribunal.

The US and Israel are not members of the ICC and have rejected the court's investigations into alleged abuses in Gaza and the occupied West Bank.

However, the court ruled that it had jurisdiction in these areas because the State of Palestine was a signatory to the Rome Statute that established the tribunal.

“The court has been subjected to attacks aimed at undermining its legitimacy and ability to administer justice and enforce international law and fundamental rights – coercive measures, threats, pressure and acts of sabotage,” Akane said.

She called the effort “appalling.”

Last week, the court condemned “the recent issuance of arrest warrants aimed at threatening the freedom and integrity of two judges.” In November, Russia issued an arrest warrant for ICC judge Haikel Ben Mahfoud.

Moscow also charged Khan and other judicial officials after the ICC issued arrest warrants for the president Vladimir Putin and The Russian military leaders last year over alleged war crimes committed during Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Akane warned on Monday that the downfall of the court through these threats would “presuppose the downfall of the rule of law in the international community”.

“Victims will no longer be able to get justice.” For many of them, a world without the ICC is unthinkable,” the ICC president said.

“We categorically reject any attempt to influence the independence and impartiality of the court,” she added.

ICC was established in 2002 to prosecute war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide and the crime of aggression when member states are unwilling or unable to do so on their own.

His order against Israeli leaders marked the first time the court had issued an order against a staunchly close Western ally.