Meanwhile, the United States has continued its ambivalence toward the ICC. President Joe Biden scrapped the Trump sanctions against the Court and authorized the sharing of information and funding for it in its investigations of Russian atrocities in Ukraine. But he reaffirmed "our government's longstanding objection to the Court's efforts to assert jurisdiction" over U.S. and Israeli officials.
The incoming Trump administration seems likely to take a much harsher line. The Republican-led House of Representatives recently passed legislation to sanction the ICC, while Republican Senator Lindsay Graham, calling the Court a "dangerous joke", urged Congress to sanction its prosecutor, and warned U.S. allies that, "if you try to help the ICC, we're going to sanction you".
Given the policies of the "great powers", are the Court's efforts to enforce international law futile?
Leading advocates of human rights don't think so. "This is a big day for the many victims of crimes committed by Russian forces in Ukraine," declared Amnesty International upon learning of the Court's arrest warrants for top Russian officials. "The ICC has made Putin a wanted man and taken its first step to end the impunity that has emboldened perpetrators in Russia's war." Similarly, Kenneth Roth, the former executive director of Human Rights Watch, stated that the ICC's issuance of arrest warrants for top Israeli officials represented "an important step toward justice for the Palestinian people.... Israeli generals must now think twice about proceeding with the bombing and starving of Palestinian children."
And, indeed, the ICC's actions have started to bear fruit. Invited to South Africa to participate in a BRICS conference, Putin canceled his visit after his hosts explained that, in light of the arrest warrant, he was no longer welcome. Also, later that year, Russian officials returned hundreds of Ukrainian children to their parents. Although the results of the ICC's action against Israeli officials are only starting to unfold, numerous countries have promised to honor the arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant.
Even so, the ICC's enforcement of international criminal justice would be considerably more effective if the major powers stopped obstructing its efforts.
Lawrence S. Wittner (https://www.lawrenceswittner.com/ ) is Professor of History Emeritus at SUNY/Albany and the author of Confronting the Bomb (Stanford University Press).(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).
