{"id":12223,"date":"2019-02-07T19:31:53","date_gmt":"2019-02-08T00:31:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sites.law.duq.edu\/juris\/?p=12223"},"modified":"2019-05-20T20:50:15","modified_gmt":"2019-05-21T01:50:15","slug":"the-resignation-of-a-united-nations-international-criminal-court-judge-sheds-light-on-the-current-relationship-between-the-united-states-and-the-international-criminal-court","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.law.duq.edu\/juris\/2019\/02\/07\/the-resignation-of-a-united-nations-international-criminal-court-judge-sheds-light-on-the-current-relationship-between-the-united-states-and-the-international-criminal-court\/","title":{"rendered":"The Resignation of a United Nations\u2019 International Criminal Court Judge Sheds Light on the Current Relationship Between the United States and the International Criminal Court"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"
Photo courtesy of Pixabay.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

By: Samantha Dorn, Staff Writer<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Recently, Christoph Fl\u00fcgge, a senior judge at one of the United Nations\u2019 International Criminal Court (ICC), made international headlines when he resigned from his position citing political interference from Turkey and the United States.[1]<\/sup><\/a>\u00a0 Fl\u00fcgge, a German judge who had been a judge on the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia since 2008, claimed that Turkey made \u201cbaseless allegations\u201d about a Turkish judge who had been arrested and convicted for having ties with a U.S. cleric who was blamed in a failed coup attempt in Turkey in 2016.[2]<\/sup><\/a><\/p>\n

Fl\u00fcgge also criticized statements made by United States National Security Advisor John Bolton regarding the ICC investigation into potential war crimes in Afghanistan.[3]<\/sup><\/a>\u00a0 On November 20, 2017, the Prosecutor of the ICC asked for authorization to begin an investigation into war crimes and crimes against humanity in Afghanistan since May 2003.[4]<\/sup><\/a>\u00a0 According to the Coalition for the International Criminal Court, a non-profit organization that advocates for the ICC, the Court\u2019s admissibility assessment is investigating crimes committed by Afghan and foreign government forces, as well as anti-government forces like the Taliban.[5]<\/sup><\/a>\u00a0 The Coalition also says that the ICC is looking at criminal proceedings in the United States and other NATO states that are suspected of sanctioning unlawful conduct.[6]<\/sup><\/a>\u00a0 Between December 2017 and February 2018, the Court received 699 victim representations of both individuals and collective entities.[7]<\/sup><\/a>\u00a0 The investigation is currently ongoing, but the Trump administration has warned that ICC could face tough action if it tries to prosecute Americans under this investigation.[8]<\/sup><\/a><\/p>\n

With regard to the ICC investigation, John Boulton stated, \u201c[T]he ICC should not investigate unfounded allegations of detainee abuse by U.S. patriots protecting the United States in Afghanistan.\u201d[9]<\/sup><\/a> \u00a0Boulton suggested that the U.S. \u201ccould respond by banning ICC judges from traveling here, by sanctioning their funds in the U.S. financial system, and by prosecuting them in the U.S. criminal system.\u201d[1o]<\/sup><\/a>\u00a0 In response to Boulton\u2019s statements, Fl\u00fcgge said, \u201cThe American threats against international judges clearly show the new political climate.\u00a0 It is shocking.\u00a0 I have never heard such a threat.\u201d[11]<\/sup><\/a><\/p>\n

However, disputes between the U.S. and the ICC are nothing new.\u00a0 The United States\u2019 relationship with the ICC has been in a state of flux since the Court\u2019s inception. The treaty that created the ICC, known as the \u201cRome Statute,\u201d was adopted on July 17, 1998 by 120 to 7 vote, with 21 countries abstaining.[12]<\/sup><\/a>\u00a0 The United States was one of the seven countries that voted against the Rome Statute.[13]<\/sup><\/a> Nevertheless, President Bill Clinton signed the Rome Statute in 2000, but he did not submit it to the Senate for ratification. [14]<\/sup><\/a>\u00a0 Clinton indicated that he would not submit the statute to the Senate until the U.S. government could ascertain the functioning of the Court.[15]<\/sup><\/a><\/p>\n

In 2002, after the requisite number of countries ratified the Rome Statute, President George W. Bush sent a note informing the U.N. Secretary-General that \u201cthe U.S. no longer intend[s] to ratify the Rome Statute, and that it did not recognize any obligation toward the Rome Statute.\u201d[16]<\/sup><\/a> \u00a0When the Obama Administration took office, it stated its intent to cooperate with the ICC.[17]<\/sup><\/a>\u00a0 In 2009, Stephen Rapp, the Ambassador-at-Large for War Crimes Issues, led a U.S. delegation to the ICC\u2019s annual Assembly of States Parties, where the U.S participated as an observer for the first time.[18]<\/sup><\/a>\u00a0 Despite the Obama Administration\u2019s cooperation with the ICC, the United States is still listed as \u201csignatory that has not ratified,\u201d a category it shares with Russia, Iran, Syria, and Sudan, among others.[19]<\/sup><\/a>\u00a0 Other countries, including China, India, Turkey, and Saudi Arabia, are classified as \u201cnon-state party, non-signatory.\u201d[20]<\/sup><\/a><\/p>\n

The American Service Members\u2019 Protection Act (ASPA), enacted in 2002 under the Bush Administration, is one of the main reasons that the U.S. has not ratified the Rome Statute[21]<\/sup><\/a>\u00a0 In its findings, the ASPA states that Americans prosecuted by the ICC would be denied procedural protections that all Americans are entitled to under the Bill of Rights\u2014like the right to trial by jury\u2014and creates the possibility that the President and other senior officials could be prosecuted by the ICC.[22]<\/sup><\/a>\u00a0 Sec. 2004(b) of the ASPA specifically prohibits the U.S. government from cooperating with the ICC in response to a request from the Court.[23]<\/sup><\/a>\u00a0 The ASPA also forbids extraditing or transferring U.S. citizens or permanent residents to the ICC, providing support to the court, or investigating on behalf of the ICC.[24]<\/sup><\/a>\u00a0 In addition, the ASPA authorizes the President to bring about the release of a person being detained or imprisoned by or on behalf of the ICC.[25]<\/sup><\/a><\/p>\n

Notwithstanding the ASPA, the Trump Administration made it clear that the United States\u2019 will not cooperate the ICC.\u00a0 When White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders was asked about Boulton\u2019s comments at a press conference, she replied:<\/p>\n

The President is committed to defending our national sovereignty and all of our security interests, which would include using any means necessary to protect our citizens and those of our allies from unjust prosecution by the ICC.\u00a0 Their announcement that they would consider opening an investigation into\u2014among other parties\u2014U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan is a threat to American sovereignty.\u00a0 And if they proceed with that, then the United States would consider those options that Ambassador Bolton laid out today.[26]<\/sup><\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The ICC responded, in part, \u201cThe ICC, as a court of law, will continue to do its work undeterred, in accordance with those principles and the overarching idea of the rule of law.\u201d[27]<\/sup><\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Sources:<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n

[1]<\/a> http:\/\/www.abajournal.com\/news\/article\/judge-on-international-court-quits-over-alleged-interference-from-turkey-and-the-white-house<\/a><\/p>\n

[2]<\/a> http:\/\/www.abajournal.com\/news\/article\/judge-on-international-court-quits-over-alleged-interference-from-turkey-and-the-white-house<\/a>; https:\/\/verfassungsblog.de\/prosecuting-a-judge-that-enjoys-diplomatic-immunity-the-case-of-judge-aydin-sefa-akay\/<\/a><\/p>\n

[3]<\/a> Id.<\/em><\/p>\n

[4]<\/a> https:\/\/www.icc-cpi.int\/afghanistan<\/a><\/p>\n

[5]<\/a> http:\/\/www.coalitionfortheicc.org\/country\/afghanistan<\/a><\/p>\n

[6]<\/a> Id.<\/em><\/p>\n

[7]<\/a> https:\/\/www.icc-cpi.int\/afghanistan<\/a>; https:\/\/www.icc-cpi.int\/RelatedRecords\/CR2018_01452.PDF<\/a>, para. 24-31.<\/p>\n

[8]<\/a> https:\/\/www.icc-cpi.int\/afghanistan<\/a>; https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/article\/us-usa-trump-icc\/trump-administration-takes-aim-at-international-criminal-court-plo-idUSKCN1LQ076<\/a><\/p>\n

[9]<\/a> http:\/\/www.abajournal.com\/news\/article\/judge-on-international-court-quits-over-alleged-interference-from-turkey-and-the-white-house<\/a><\/p>\n

[10]<\/a> http:\/\/www.abajournal.com\/news\/article\/judge-on-international-court-quits-over-alleged-interference-from-turkey-and-the-white-house<\/a><\/p>\n

[11]<\/a> https:\/\/www.newsweek.com\/un-judge-quits-trump-threats-1309973<\/a><\/p>\n

[12]<\/a> https:\/\/iapss.org\/2018\/10\/23\/history-of-the-us-international-criminal-court-relations\/<\/a><\/p>\n

[13]<\/a> Id.<\/em><\/p>\n

[14]<\/a> Id.<\/em><\/p>\n

[15]<\/a> Id.<\/em><\/p>\n

[16]<\/a> Id.<\/em><\/p>\n

[17]<\/a> Id.<\/em><\/p>\n

[18]<\/a> Id.<\/em><\/p>\n

[19]<\/a> https:\/\/asp.icc-cpi.int\/en_menus\/asp\/states%20parties\/pages\/the%20states%20parties%20to%20the%20rome%20statute.aspx#S<\/a><\/p>\n

[20]<\/a> Id.<\/em><\/p>\n

[21]<\/a> https:\/\/iapss.org\/2018\/10\/23\/history-of-the-us-international-criminal-court-relations\/<\/a><\/p>\n

[22]<\/a> 2002 Supplemental Appropriations Act for Further Recovery from and Response to Terrorist Attacks on the U.S., Pub. L. No. 107-206, \u00a7 2002(7)-(9), 116 Stat. 820, 899-900 (2002).<\/p>\n

[23]<\/a> Id<\/u>. \u00a7 2004(b), 116 Stat. at 902-903.<\/p>\n

[24]<\/a> Id<\/u>. \u00a7 2004(d)-(f) (h), 116 Stat. at 903.<\/p>\n

[25]<\/a> Id<\/u>. \u00a7 2008(a), 116 Stat. at 905.<\/p>\n

[26]<\/a> https:\/\/www.jurist.org\/news\/2018\/09\/icc-court-will-continue-afghanistan-war-crimes-investigation-despite-us-threats\/<\/p>\n

[27]<\/a> Id.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By: Samantha Dorn, Staff Writer   Recently, Christoph Fl\u00fcgge, a senior judge at one of the United Nations\u2019 International Criminal Court (ICC), made international headlines when he resigned from his position citing political interference from Turkey and the United States.[1]\u00a0 Fl\u00fcgge, a German judge who had been a judge on [\u2026] <\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

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