Welcome to the Age of Impunity – Where the International Criminal Court’s Pursuit of Atrocity Crimes Becomes a Rare Achievement
Simon Tisdall
It was a rare success for international justice at a time when courts are struggling against a rising tide of official lawlessness. Last week, the International Criminal Court sentenced Ali Muhammad Ali Abd-Al-Rahman, a senior commander of the notorious, government-backed Janjaweed militia, to 20 years in prison after convicting him on 27 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity for atrocities committed in Sudan’s Darfur region between 2003 and 2005.
Despite the involvement of hundreds of militiamen, Abd-Al-Rahman—better known as Ali Kushayb—is the first individual ever convicted for Darfur’s atrocities, a region that has once again descended into horrific violence amid Sudan’s ongoing civil war. Benjamin Netanyahu in Israel, Pete Hegseth, the US defence secretary, and Vladimir Putin in Russia: this unpalatable trio stand accused, to varying degrees, of atrocities by the ICC, the United Nations and human rights organisations. Each is alleged to have overseen the deliberate killing, abuse or mass abduction of non-combatant civilians. All deny wrongdoing, insisting their actions are justified regardless of what the law, public opinion or even basic moral standards may say. All believe—arrogantly—that they are beyond accountability.
Netanyahu is fighting on multiple fronts to save his political career and avoid prison. Like Gaza, his personal reputation lies in ruins. Israel’s prime minister is seeking to halt his long-running fraud and bribery trial in a Jerusalem court on the grounds of “national interest”. He says he would prefer to prove his innocence but, in a supposed spirit of sacrifice to heal divisions, is prepared to accept a pardon.
The man’s audacity is breathtaking. Netanyahu has shamelessly exploited those very divisions to cling to power. Emboldened, he is also resisting a full, independent inquiry into the catastrophic security failures that preceded Hamas’s 7 October 2023 attacks. Opposition politicians, including Avigdor Lieberman, accuse him of orchestrating a “whitewash” to save himself.
Yet Netanyahu’s disgraceful attempt to evade accountability before the ICC over Gaza—where his government stands accused of genocide—most starkly illustrates the corrosive effect of official impunity. Instead of defending himself in court, he hides behind Donald Trump in Washington or stays at home to avoid arrest. Meanwhile, in Gaza, starving children continue to suffer—on his orders.
As for Hegseth, the new US defence secretary appears to have convinced himself that killing dozens of unidentified people aboard boats in the Caribbean, on the basis of unproven suspicions of drug trafficking, is both desirable and lawful—not a brutal, unjustified act. Flimsy justifications are offered: the United States claims to possess “intelligence” supporting its allegations and insists the victims belonged to “foreign terrorist organisations”, making them legitimate targets. Judges and lawyers may say what they like; for Hegseth, only one man’s opinion matters.
Trump and Hegseth believe they can do whatever they want without consequence. When video footage emerged showing survivors of a US strike being deliberately killed in a follow-up attack, some members of Congress belatedly began asking questions. The Pentagon was evasive. Who cares? Not the president. Whatever Hegseth does, “it’s fine with me,” Trump declared last week.
This is impunity. And this, precisely, is the end of the rule of law. It is a declaration by the world’s most powerful state that it no longer respects the basic rules which—however imperfect—hold human society together. Off the coast of Venezuela, US forces are killing and seizing oil tankers as if they were Somali pirates or Houthi rebels in the Red Sea. Impunity breeds chaos.
Little wonder, then, that Putin—also wanted by the ICC—believes he can get away with his crimes. Trump even sought to grant Putin immunity from prosecution in his 28-point “peace plan” for Ukraine. He is also attempting to destroy the ICC through sanctions. What example does that set for the world? And how can Britain and Europe continue to claim that the United States is an ally that shares their values?
Trump’s lawless enforcers, wreaking havoc abroad as at home, are the new Janjaweed. And like Ali Kushayb, Trump, Netanyahu, Putin, Hegseth and their fellow boastful killers must one day be held to account before the law.
