[News] International Criminal Court Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda Officially Sanctioned by the US

[Anti-Imperialist News]

https://www.palestinechronicle.com/icc-prosecutor-fatou-bensouda-officially-sanctioned-by-us-government/

POMPEO: ICC PROSECUTOR FATOU BENSOUDA OFFICIALLY SANCTIONED

September 2, 2020 

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 ICC Chief Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda. (Photo: File) 

By Palestine Chronicle Staff [1] 

The United States has officially sanctioned International Criminal Court
Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda for investigating war crimes committed by the
US and its allies. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has also said that
Phakiso Mochochoko, the head of the ICC's Jurisdiction, Complementarity
and Cooperation Division, had also been blacklisted. 

Sanctions targeting the ICC were authorized by US President Donald Trump
last June. The sanctions allow for an assets freeze and travel bans. 

"Today we take the next step, because the ICC continues to target
Americans, sadly," Pompeo told reporters on Wednesday, referring to the
ICC's investigation of US forces' committing of war crimes in
Afghanistan. 

"Pompeo also said that individuals and entities that continue to
materially support Bensouda and Mochochoko would risk exposure to
sanctions as well," Reuters reported. 

Israeli leaders welcomed the US decision, which is also motivated by the
ICC's expected investigation of Israeli crimes in occupied Palestine.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu congratulated the US for its
anti-ICC move, describing the International Court as a "corrupt and
biased .. kangaroo court". 

Netanyahu said that the ICC is a "politicized court obsessed with
conducting witch hunts against Israel, the United States and other
democracies that respect human rights." 

The ICC slammed the 'unprecedented' US sanctions, which it says aim to
"interfere with the Court's judicial and prosecutorial independence,"
Reuters also reported. 

"Washington's decision to carry out punitive measures against the very
Court that was established for the sole purpose of holding war criminals
accountable is both outrageous and abhorrent," Palestinian journalist
and editor of The Palestine Chronicle Ramzy Baroud wrote. 

"It also exposes Washington's hypocrisy - the country that claims to
defend human rights is attempting to prevent legal accountability by
those who have violated human rights," Baroud added. 

_(The Palestine Chronicle)_ 

 (The Palestine Chronicle is a registered [2] 501(c)3 organization,
thus, all donations are tax deductible.) 

  

Links:
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[1] https://www.palestinechronicle.com/writers/palestine-chronicle-staff
[2] https://www.palestinechronicle.com/about/
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