US: ICC says sanctions are an attack on the rule of law

Washington (US), 9 Oct. (LaPresse/AP) – The International Criminal Court has criticised the sanctions announced by the US administration against it. “It is an attempt to obstruct the course of justice and to prevent the Court from carrying out the task for which it was established,” the Court stated in a press release. “It is an attack on the rule of law and on the very foundations of the international legal order, undermining the fundamental principle that no one is above the law.” The President of the International Criminal Court, Tomoko Akane, a Japanese national, stated that the court “will continue to fulfil its mandate in full, with independence and impartiality, acting solely on the basis of the law and the evidence, in the interests of the countless victims of serious crimes”. Akane also appealed to the Court’s other member states to offer their support. “This is not merely a matter of defending a single institution, but of safeguarding the international order founded on the rule of law.”