The Biden government is facing increasing criticism for failing to lift US sanctions imposed on war criminals last year, while at the same time seeking to keep sanctions in place.
The sanctions, which target ICC officials and their families, were instituted by the Trump administration in September in retaliation for the investigation into the Afghan and Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Days after Joe Biden was inaugurated, the State Department said that although the new administration did not agree with the decision to launch the investigation, “the sanctions will be thoroughly reviewed as we determine our next steps”.
More than a month later, there was no attempt to lift the sanctions, and a State Department spokesman said this week that they had made no further comment. The failure to take action has caused discomfort among US allies in Europe and elsewhere, who are strong supporters of the ICC.
According to a report by Axios confirmed by the Guardian, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivered on February 17 in their first telephone conversation since the inauguration of the new president Biden to keep the sanctions in place. An official familiar with the conversation confirmed the report.
In December, the ICC prosecutor declared that there were grounds to investigate in the West Bank and Gaza, and a panel of judges agreed earlier this month that the prosecutor has jurisdiction.
Like the US, Israel is not a signatory to the Treaty of Rome establishing the ICC, but Afghanistan and the Palestinian Authority.
The Israeli embassy in Washington did not respond to a request for comment.
The Trump administration not only approved ICC officials involved in the investigation into alleged war crimes by the US and its allies, but also imposed visa restrictions on the families of the officials. It also claims that it would initiate a counter-investigation into the ICC for alleged corruption, although it is unclear whether such an investigation was ever launched.
The Department of Justice did not respond to an inquiry into the status of the investigation.
Legal sources said that the continuing threat of sanctions had led to serious obstacles to investigations of atrocities by all sides in Afghanistan, the West Bank and Gaza, as advocates and institutions worked reluctantly to cooperate with the ICC for fear of US sanctions. against themselves.
Earlier this month, more than 70 human rights organizations, faith groups and academic institutions called for the lifting of sanctions, which they described as “an unprecedented attack on the court’s mandate to provide justice worldwide and the rule of law.” an abuse of the US government’s financial powers, and a betrayal of the US legacy to establish institutions of international justice ”.
Diplomats and experts predicted that Biden’s government would eventually lift the sanctions, but were looking for a way to do so without looking at the ICC investigations in Afghanistan and the Palestinian territories.
“The U.S. relationship with the ICC is in a much more complicated place than 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 investigating US personnel and of course the judges have just made it clear that the prosecutor can investigate in Palestine.”
Bosco added: “In this environment, it is really difficult to figure out how the US should approach the court, and I think the government has decided that they should assess all approaches before lifting the sanctions.”