United States: United States President Mr. Joe Biden has ordered his administration to share evidence of alleged Russian war crimes in Ukraine with the Hague-based International Criminal Court (ICC).
Mr. Dick Durbin, the Democratic chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and Mr. Lindsey Graham, the Republican ranking member of the panel, lauded the decision by President Mr. Joe Biden’s administration.
“After pressing the administration for months, we are pleased that the administration is finally supporting the ICC’s investigation,” Mr. Durbin and Mr. Graham said in a statement.
“We will continue to work in the Senate to ensure those responsible for atrocities are held accountable, including by working to close the gap in US law for crimes against humanity,” the senators added.
The move marks a major shift in the longstanding trend of the US refusing to cooperate with the ICC. According to reports, the decision was taken partly due to concerns that the court could use its authority to investigate alleged crimes by US forces or allied countries.
The Trump administration had previously imposed sanctions on ICC officials who were looking into accusations of US misconduct in Afghanistan and Israeli authorities’ mistreatment of Palestinians.
The US is among a small group of nations that have not ratified the Rome Statute, the treaty that established the ICC in 1998.
Recently, the State Department reiterated its opposition to an ICC investigation in Israel and Palestine when asked about increased settler attacks against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank.
“We have not viewed the ICC as the appropriate mechanism for some of these deliberations,” Department spokesperson Mr. Vedant Patel told reporters.
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