This is a classic example of how "power corrupts". If there is no way of holding powerful and corrupt leaders accountable by now, then the future is bleak.
@DANPERRY, you omitted another clause giving states, and the ICC, an out: the ICC is intended to complement, not to replace, national criminal systems; it prosecutes cases only when States do not, are unwilling or unable to do so themselves.
There are three separate cases being tried against Netanyahu at the moment, and it may be that Israel in future prosecutes him for war crimes. There's a long list of Israeli public officials convicted of crimes and misdemeanours, including a President, a Prime Minister, government ministers, Knesset members, Chief Rabbis, mayors ...
It may be that DC's Israel Lobby beats the ICC and its long list of state supporters. If that is the outcome, the ultimate loser will be one of the states that refuses publicly to recognise the court's jurisdiction but which currently cooperates with it (eg. providing evidence against law-breaker Putin) and has cooperated with it in the past, and that is the USA: the USA's prestige and power in the world is based not only on its ability to bully or destroy others, but also on its standing as a state that obeys international law, much of which the USA led in making. The USA perhaps more than any other country in the world benefits from the Order that law creates out of the Anarchy.
One thing is for sure: a lawyer with no police force or soldiers to back his case is going to cause problems for a Commander in Chief of a state that can destroy the world many times over. Here is the question Trump will ask himself in the coming days: is it really in America's interests to be prey to the interests of an individual and a foreigner, and one who may in any case be languishing in a foreign jail soon?
I'll spare you a whole rant about how the ICC/ICJ lack adequate consent of the governed to be considered authorities on anything because the truth is, this is all about power and the court harmed itself and its own credibility by challenging powers it cannot contend with. Arresting and trying Pinochet long after his sell-by date is one thing. The biggest risk to issuing a warrant to arrest somebody like Netanyahu is that somebody acts on it. Does anybody really think The Hague wants to match mettle with SEAL Team 6?
Ironically, the arrest of Pinochet under the principle of universal jurisdiction (a principle whose roots are in the Nuremberg trials of crimes against humanity) is one of the successes in the history of war crimes justice that @DANPERRY's co-author Chris Stephen attests to in his book. Pinochet's arrest also came before the ICC's creation.
Point is, the arrest of Pinochet can only happen if the US allows it. The ICC will not be allowed to hold Netanyahu or any American acting on behalf of our government.
The ICC is totally discredited, as is its chief prosecutor Mr Khan, an alleged pervert (of fine stock: his brother is a proven nonce).
The American Republicans cited are in the right calling out the ICC for their hypocrisy and demented persecution of Israel. Damned right that the ICC is the architect of its own demise. Hopefully it won't be long before the UN and other supra-national organisations get the same treatment. These organisations need to be closed and the crazed bigots, racists and chancers chased into the sea.
This is a classic example of how "power corrupts". If there is no way of holding powerful and corrupt leaders accountable by now, then the future is bleak.
@DANPERRY, you omitted another clause giving states, and the ICC, an out: the ICC is intended to complement, not to replace, national criminal systems; it prosecutes cases only when States do not, are unwilling or unable to do so themselves.
There are three separate cases being tried against Netanyahu at the moment, and it may be that Israel in future prosecutes him for war crimes. There's a long list of Israeli public officials convicted of crimes and misdemeanours, including a President, a Prime Minister, government ministers, Knesset members, Chief Rabbis, mayors ...
It may be that DC's Israel Lobby beats the ICC and its long list of state supporters. If that is the outcome, the ultimate loser will be one of the states that refuses publicly to recognise the court's jurisdiction but which currently cooperates with it (eg. providing evidence against law-breaker Putin) and has cooperated with it in the past, and that is the USA: the USA's prestige and power in the world is based not only on its ability to bully or destroy others, but also on its standing as a state that obeys international law, much of which the USA led in making. The USA perhaps more than any other country in the world benefits from the Order that law creates out of the Anarchy.
One thing is for sure: a lawyer with no police force or soldiers to back his case is going to cause problems for a Commander in Chief of a state that can destroy the world many times over. Here is the question Trump will ask himself in the coming days: is it really in America's interests to be prey to the interests of an individual and a foreigner, and one who may in any case be languishing in a foreign jail soon?
Obama was a citizen of the world, Trump is a citizen of the United States.
I'll spare you a whole rant about how the ICC/ICJ lack adequate consent of the governed to be considered authorities on anything because the truth is, this is all about power and the court harmed itself and its own credibility by challenging powers it cannot contend with. Arresting and trying Pinochet long after his sell-by date is one thing. The biggest risk to issuing a warrant to arrest somebody like Netanyahu is that somebody acts on it. Does anybody really think The Hague wants to match mettle with SEAL Team 6?
Ironically, the arrest of Pinochet under the principle of universal jurisdiction (a principle whose roots are in the Nuremberg trials of crimes against humanity) is one of the successes in the history of war crimes justice that @DANPERRY's co-author Chris Stephen attests to in his book. Pinochet's arrest also came before the ICC's creation.
Point is, the arrest of Pinochet can only happen if the US allows it. The ICC will not be allowed to hold Netanyahu or any American acting on behalf of our government.
Top drawer article from Messrs Perry and Stephen.
The ICC is totally discredited, as is its chief prosecutor Mr Khan, an alleged pervert (of fine stock: his brother is a proven nonce).
The American Republicans cited are in the right calling out the ICC for their hypocrisy and demented persecution of Israel. Damned right that the ICC is the architect of its own demise. Hopefully it won't be long before the UN and other supra-national organisations get the same treatment. These organisations need to be closed and the crazed bigots, racists and chancers chased into the sea.