The US government of Joe Biden said on Friday that it had lifted sanctions imposed by the administration of former President Donald Trump on the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, and urged more cooperative relations.
Former Foreign Minister Mike Pompeo there was Imposed sanctions and refused visas to the outgoing Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Fatou Bensouda, after she opened an investigation into alleged war crimes committed by US military personnel in Afghanistan.
The Hague-based court added to the anger of the United States To open an investigation into alleged war crimes in the Palestinian territories committed by Israel, An American ally rejecting the authority of the International Criminal Court.
Pompeo’s successorAnthony Blinken, She said The United States remains “in complete disagreement” with the actions of the International Criminal Court.
But we think so Our concerns about these issues will be better addressed by engaging all stakeholders in the ICC process rather than imposing sanctions. “Blinken said in a statement.
He pointed out that both the penalties imposed on Bensouda and the head of the Division of Specialization, Integration and Cooperation of the Office of the Prosecutor General, Vaciso Mushushoku, that were imposed in September 2020, have been canceled, in addition to several visa restrictions that were approved in 2019 against employees of the International Criminal Court. .
The Gambia-born plaintiff will leave office in June and replace her with British human rights lawyer Karim Khan.
For its part, the International Criminal Court welcomed the “new stage” in relations with the United States after the sanctions were lifted. “I am confident that this decision will lead to a new phase in our common struggle against impunity for war crimes.”And Sylvia Fernandez de Gourmande, director of the League of States Parties at the court, said.
The United States has signed but not ratified the Rome Statute of 1998 that created the International Criminal Court.
Backtrack on Trump’s actions
The sanctions lifting is part of the Biden administration’s start-up campaign to reverse Trump-era measures it deemed flawed.
On March 30, Blinken officially rescinded the gambit promoted by his predecessor in which the United States’ defense of human rights abroad was limited to issues favored by conservatives. Such as religious freedom and property issues, while ignoring LGBT rights and reproductive rights.
Blinken said that the report prepared for former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo trying to reduce the number of freedoms that are a priority in American foreign policy was “unbalanced”The policies of President Joe Biden’s administration have not been reflected and will not be used to direct them. The Pompeo Committee’s report on inalienable rights has been heavily criticized by human rights groups.
Secretary of State Blinken also rescinded a decision by the Trump administration to remove sections on reproductive rights from the State Department’s annual reports on human rights in other countries. “Women’s rights – including sexual and reproductive rights – are human rights.”He said.
Human rights activists condemned the Pompeo Commission report when it released it last year to much fanfare from religious and conservative groups. The report was part of a broader plan by the Trump administration to restore the primacy of what some officials see as the values of the nation’s founders.
With information from AFP and AP
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