ICC President Criticizes U.S. and Russia Over Threats to the Court

The President of the International Criminal Court (ICC) has criticized the United States and Russia for interfering with the court’s investigations, labeling the threats and attacks on the ICC as “appalling.”

Judge Tomoko Akane, speaking at the court’s annual meeting on Monday, stated, “The court faces threats of severe economic sanctions from another permanent member of the UN Security Council, as if it were a terrorist organization,” according to the Associated Press.

She added, “If the court collapses, this would inevitably mean the collapse of all its cases… The risk to the court is existential.”

Akane referenced remarks by U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham, whose Republican party will control both chambers of Congress in January. Graham had described the ICC as “a dangerous joke” and urged Congress to sanction the court’s Prosecutor General.

Graham, speaking to Fox News, warned allied nations such as Canada, the UK, Germany, and France that “if you assist the ICC, we will impose sanctions on you.”

Graham’s outrage was triggered by the ICC’s announcement last month that its judges had approved the Prosecutor General Karim Khan’s request to issue arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, his former Defense Minister, and a Hamas military commander on charges of crimes against humanity related to the ongoing war in Gaza.

The decision was met with harsh criticism from the ICC’s detractors and tepid support from many of its backers, contrasting with the strong approval for last year’s arrest warrant against Russian President Vladimir Putin for alleged war crimes in Ukraine.

Judge Akane also criticized Russia on Monday, stating, “Many elected officials are subject to arrest warrants issued by another permanent Security Council member.”

Russia had issued its own arrest warrants for ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan and others in response to the court’s investigations into Putin’s alleged war crimes in Ukraine.