The Kabul Tribune (KT) — U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has announced a diplomatic campaign against the International Criminal Court (ICC), citing the court's investigation into alleged crimes committed during the war in Afghanistan as one of the reasons behind the move.
In an opinion article published Monday in The Wall Street
Journal, Rubio said the United States would work with allied governments to
dismantle the ICC "brick by brick, if necessary," arguing that
Washington would protect U.S. service members from the court's jurisdiction.
According to Reuters, Rubio specifically referred to the
ICC's 2020 decision to authorize an investigation into the situation in
Afghanistan, which included allegations of crimes committed by U.S. forces,
alongside alleged crimes by the Taliban and the former Afghan government.
Reuters reported that although the Afghanistan investigation
initially covered alleged abuses by U.S. personnel, ICC prosecutors have, since
2021, shifted their focus primarily to alleged crimes committed by the Taliban
and the former Afghan government.
A U.S. State Department official told Reuters that the
administration is considering measures including visa restrictions, travel
bans, expanded sanctions against the ICC and affiliated organizations, and
diplomatic pressure on member states to withdraw support for the court.
The ICC, established under the Rome Statute in 2002, has 125
member states, but the United States is not among them.
An ICC spokesperson declined to comment on Rubio's
announcement.
