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March 26, 2002 World Court for War Crimes Inches Closer to Reality By BARBARA CROSSETTE NITED NATIONS, March 25 — The world's first permanent international court to try individuals charged with genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity may become a reality within the next few weeks, much sooner than expected, legal experts said today."We're creeping very close to the 60 ratifications needed," the United Nations spokesman, Fred Eckhard, told reporters today.The leader of the nongovernmental Coalition for the International Criminal Court, William Pace, said in an interview that the remaining ratifications — four more are needed — could take...

Last week, the Trump administration in the person of secretary of state Mike Pompeo gave the European international set another swift and deserved kick in the derrière. That's when the secretary of state made it known that the U.S. will not grant visas to members of the International Criminal Court (ICC) who attempt to come here to investigate any alleged war crimes by members of the American military in Afghanistan. The ICC has been making noises to that effect. Pompeo also said economic sanctions could follow if the ICC persists. Before getting into the matter, some background on the ICC...

The International Criminal Court is an illegitimate globalist institution being used by enemies of the United States and Israel as a political lawfare weapon U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced on Friday new U.S. visa restrictions on those individuals directly responsible for any International Criminal Court (ICC) investigation of U.S. personnel in connection with U.S. and allied military and intelligence activities in Afghanistan. The ICC prosecutor had previously requested approval from the ICC’s judges to launch a formal investigation into what the prosecutor called the “situation in Afghanistan.” That request is still pending. Secretary Pompeo warned all those working...

The United States will revoke or deny visas to International Criminal Court personnel seeking to investigate alleged war crimes and other abuses committed by U.S. forces in Afghanistan or elsewhere, and may do the same with those who seek action against Israel, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Friday. Pompeo,“If you are responsible for the proposed ICC investigation of U.S. personnel in connection with the situation in Afghanistan, you should not assume that you still have or will get a visa or will be permitted to enter the United States,”

Judges at the International Criminal Court have ordered the court’s chief prosecutor to reopen for the third time her probe into the May 2010 flotilla incident, during which Israeli commandos killed 10 Turkish citizens aboard a naval vessel that was aiming to break the Gaza blockade. Israel has reacted scornfully to the pre-trial chambers’s decision last week to require Fatou Bensouda to reconsider a case that she had repeatedly sought to close due to lack of gravity. One official in Jerusalem said that the court was wasting its limited resources on a frivolous suit in a manner that reflected poorly...

Watch "President Trump Addresses the 73rd Session of the United Nations General Assembly" on YouTube https://youtu.be/q6XXNWC5Koc This speech is so damned incredible, I must post the link in case anyone here has not watched it. Unbelievable clarity and conviction.

Amnesty International is calling on senators to to halt the nomination of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh over his "possible involvement" in human rights violations after the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001. The human rights organization wrote in a Monday letter that Kavanaugh might have been involved "in issues related to torture and rendition after 9/11." "More information must be made public to determine Kavanaugh’s role in relation to such practices," the organization wrote.

“We will not cooperate, engage, fund, or assist the ICC in any way. This president will not allow American citizens to be prosecuted by foreign bureaucrats, and he will not allow other nations to dictate our means of self-defense U.S. national security advisor John Bolton condemned the International Criminal Court (ICC) “as a free-wheeling global organization claiming jurisdiction over individuals without their consent.” He announced in a major speech to the Federalist Society earlier this week that the Trump administration would consider strong steps to protect the American people if the ICC oversteps its bounds, such as imposing sanctions on...

The Administration has determined after careful review that the office of the General Delegation of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) in Washington should close. We have permitted the PLO office to conduct operations that support the objective of achieving a lasting, comprehensive peace between Israelis and the Palestinians since the expiration of a previous waiver in November 2017. However, the PLO has not taken steps to advance the start of direct and meaningful negotiations with Israel. To the contrary, PLO leadership has condemned a U.S. peace plan they have not yet seen and refused to engage with the U.S. government...

National security adviser John Bolton is expected to announced Monday that the U.S. will shutter the Palestine Liberation Organization's (PLO) office in Washington, D.C., The Wall Street Journal reported. “The Trump administration will not keep the office open when the Palestinians refuse to start direct and meaningful negotiations with Israel,” Bolton is expected to say, according to a draft of his speech reviewed by The Wall Street Journal. Bolton will reportedly threaten the International Criminal Court with sanctions if it carries out investigations into the U.S. and Israel. ADVERTISEMENT The action against the PLO, which serves as the main entity...

The United States threatened Monday to arrest and sanction judges and other officials of the International Criminal Court if it moves to charge any American who served in Afghanistan with war crimes. White House National Security Advisor John Bolton called the Hague-based rights body "unaccountable" and "outright dangerous" to the United States, Israel and other allies, and said any probe of US service members would be "an utterly unfounded, unjustifiable investigation." "If the court comes after us, Israel or other US allies, we will not sit quietly," Bolton said. He said the US was prepared to slap financial sanctions and...

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump is closing the Palestine Liberation Organization’s mission in Washington, the latest U.S. blow against the Palestinians and an international court during the stalled Mideast peace process. Some things to know: THE GIST The administration’s move to close the PLO office in Washington is not directly connected to the Trump White House’s opposition to the International Criminal Court, although the administration is trying to link them. But the Trump administration is trotting out discussions about the two on the same day — Rosh Hashana, the Jewish New Year — in a move certain to inflame...

The International Criminal Court (ICC) ruled on Thursday that it has jurisdiction over alleged deportations of Rohingya people from Myanmar to Bangladesh as a possible crime against humanity. The decision at the Hague-based court paves the way for prosecutor Fatou Bensouda to further examine whether there is sufficient evidence to file charges in the case, although she has not done so yet. Bensouda’s representatives were not immediately available for comment. Although Myanmar is not a member of the Hague-based court, Bangladesh is, and the cross-border nature of deportation was sufficient for jurisdiction, the court said. […] The office of government...

Israel condemned PA efforts to have Israeli political and military officials prosecuted in the International Criminal Court in The Hague for “war crimes” against rioters on the Gaza border. The Foreign Ministry said that the PA appeal to The Hague was “a cynical move that is not legally valid. The PA continues to abuse the tribunal for political purposes rather than to promote political negotiations.” "It is ridiculous that the Palestinians do this while they continue to incite to terror and use children and women as human shields to cover their violent attempts to harm the security of Israeli citizens."...

"I believe the explanation lies in the Obama administration’s fondness for transnationalism, a doctrine of post-sovereign globalism in which America is seen as owing its principal allegiance to the international legal order rather than to our own Constitution and national interests. "Recall that the president chose to install former Yale Law School dean Harold Koh as his State Department’s legal adviser. Koh is the country’s leading proponent of transnationalism. He is now a major player in the administration’s deliberations over international law and cooperation. Naturally, membership in the International Criminal Court, which the United States has resisted joining, is high...

The International Criminal Court at The Hague may prosecute Israel over the deaths of Arab rioters who clashed with IDF forces on the Gaza-Israel frontier over the past week and a half, a top ICC official warned Sunday. Chief Prosecutor for the ICC Fatou Bensouda issued a statement Sunday demanding an end to the use of violence on the border between Israel and Gaza, and suggested that both Israel and the Hamas terror organization could be held responsible for the deaths of some 30 Arab rioters and terrorists killed since activists launched six weeks of violent protests on the frontier...

Police in Maryland say this was just the start of it: A 1997 Ford Crown Victoria, traveling in front of an officer early Friday morning, veered off a highway and struck a large traffic sign in Montgomery County. Next: A wooden support post from the sign became impaled in the Ford’s front windshield, sticking up and back more than five feet, like a misplaced lance. Yet the driver kept going, refusing to stop even as lights and sirens flashed behind him. “He was lucky no one was killed,” said Officer Rick Goodale, a Montgomery police spokesman. The driver, Omar Rasharn...

They say there are two constants in life: death and taxes. However, if you live in Montgomery County, there’s a third: traffic congestion . Unfortunately, some Montgomery County politicians seem almost to scoff at any real solution to that last constant. Take Montgomery County Council candidate Ben Shnider’s recent critique of Gov. Larry Hogan’s (R) proposal for Interstate 270. Shnider, a Democrat, is correct to point out that Hogan’s proposal does not go far enough. But Shnider argues for policies that would, ironically, make traffic only worse. Meanwhile, his Democratic primary opponent, incumbent council member Sidney Katz (Gaithersburg-Rockville), has shown...

Saeb Erekat, secretary of the PLO Executive Committee, on Tuesday announced that the "State of Palestine" plans to appeal to the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague against U.S. President Donald Trump's peace plan and his recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. In an interview with a Turkish news agency, Erekat said that U.S. policy is contrary to the decisions of international institutions, which regard East Jerusalem as territory that is "occupied" by Israel. Erekat further stated that the Palestinian Authority (PA) intends to turn once again to the UN Security Council with a request that it...

WASHINGTON — Maryland State Police want the public’s help bringing to justice a pickup truck driver who stabbed a man this week on MD 200 — the Intercounty Connector. The victim was a passenger in a white Chevy Silverado which was heading eastbound on the ICC, Wednesday afternoon, around 3:30. The incident began with a dispute between the drivers of the Silverado and a gray Ford pickup. The suspect then drove his gray truck on the shoulder to get around the white truck, according to police. On the ramp to northbound Interstate 95, as the Ford truck blocked the path...