President Donald Trump has been warned that he could end up in handcuffs in International Criminal Court member countries over his administration's sanctions, according to a former Human Rights Watch chief.
Kenneth Roth, the former executive director of the organization and a senior fellow at Yale, made the argument in a column for The Guardian that Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio could be subject to prosecution under a provision of the court's founding treaty which prohibits retaliation against its personnel.
The warning came after Trump's latest attack against the International Criminal Court in The Hague, which has been looking into allegations of war crimes committed by Israeli officials and has previously looked into allegations of abuse by US personnel in Afghanistan.
Roth stated that Article 70 of the Rome Statute criminalizes obstructing justice by intimidation or retaliation against judicial officers and that such an offense is punishable by up to 5 years' imprisonment.
He argued the sanctions on the judges, the prosecutors and now the institution itself would fall within that provision.
"They would suddenly risk arrest if they traveled to any ICC member state," Roth wrote, describing what could happen if the court brought charges against Trump or Rubio.
He also added: "Trump's pardon power doesn't extend to the ICC." He used Russian President Vladimir Putin as an example, pointing to his lack of attendance at BRICS summits in South Africa and Brazil due to fear of being arrested.
He acknowledged charging President Trump would be a "big deal" and would require a brave chief prosecutor, which they currently do not have.
Roth said that the administration has already sanctioned 13 ICC judges and prosecutors. The latest actions are set to have the effect of cutting off the court from financial transactions within six months, which would in effect mean that it would be restricted in its access to banking, communications and technology services.
Roth connected the most recent escalation to the award of the Nobel Peace Prize to South African human rights lawyer Navi Pillay, who was previously an ICC judge and chair of the UN inquiry into Israel's actions in Gaza.
The Trump admin is arguing that the ICC is a threat to US sovereignty because it's asserting jurisdiction over states that have not joined the court.
Roth responded that the Tribunal can investigate alleged crimes which have been committed on the territory of member states even if the accused is from a non-member state. He gave the examples of Palestine and Afghanistan.
Roth also called on the EU to bring into force the legislation which would enable it to circumvent certain foreign sanctions, thus allowing EU companies to continue to support the court.
He accused Trump of having “lawless views on American and Israeli crimes” but concluded that “no one else should.”
