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Today, the International Criminal Court (ICC) Appeals Chamber authorized an investigation into the alleged activities of the Taliban and U.S. and Afghan personnel related to Afghanistan. This is a truly breathtaking action by an unaccountable political institution, masquerading as a legal body. It is all the more reckless for this ruling to come just days after the United States signed a historic peace deal on Afghanistan – the best chance for peace in a generation. Indeed, the Afghan government, itself, pleaded with the ICC to not take this course. But the ICC politicians had other goals. The United States is...

New York Assemblyman Felix Ortiz is a legislative genius. When last we checked on his work, he was planning to GPS-enable every new gun in the state, and require firearm owners to have just the sort of insurance that the state was busily shutting down. Amidst all of that, I somehow missed another one of his bills. A03779 Establishes a statewide database to maintain and track coded ammunition; establishes penalties for individuals who violate such provisions; also establishes the ammunition coding system database fund. That’s all bad enough. Basically, it would require every single, individual cartridge in the state, for...

The chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) said Friday her team plans to launch an investigation into alleged war crimes committed in the Palestinian territories, drawing a sharp rebuke from Israel. In a statement, ICC Prosecutor Fatou Besouda said there was a “reasonable basis” for an investigation. “In brief, I am satisfied that war crimes have been or are being committed in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip,” she said. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu slammed the announcement by the Hague-based court as a “dark day for truth and justice.” “The ICC prosecutor’s decision...

NEW YORK, July 5 (C-Fam) The International Law Commission has agreed to abandon the traditional definition of gender enshrined in the 1998 Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court in a draft treaty on crimes against humanity. The 1998 Rome Statute famously defined “gender” as referring to the “the two sexes, male and female, within the context of society.” The debate about the meaning of gender was so controversial when the treaty was negotiated states expressly excluded “any meaning different from the above.” LGBT activists are now claiming a victory because the commission has decided to abandon that definition in...

Riyad Malki, the Palestinian Authority (PA) “foreign minister”, on Wednesday submitted a request to The Hague-based International Criminal Court (ICC) for legal action against the US over the relocation of its embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. Ramallah claims the US relocation of the embassy to Jerusalem was “in clear violation of international law”, reported the Turkish Anadolu news agency. “One year after the Trump administration carried out its provocative and illegal action, the State of Palestine continues to seek justice and accountability through the tools and mechanisms available to law-abiding and respecting states within the international system,”...

The International Criminal Court will not investigate alleged war crimes in Afghanistan by the U.S. and its allies in the early days of the War on Terror, rejecting a request from the chief prosecutor to launch a formal probe into the matter and handing an ideological victory to National Security Advisor John Bolton on a pet issue that he has made a focus of the Trump administration. The United States is not a signatory to the ICC and administrations of both parties have long been wary of the Hague, in part out of concern that it might allow for the...

US personnel in Afghanistan are being investigated by the ICC. The US has revoked the entry visa for the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC), Fatou Bensouda. The decision is thought to be the US response to Ms Bensouda's investigation into possible war crimes by American forces and their allies in Afghanistan. The US secretary of state had warned the US might refuse or revoke visas to any ICC staff involved in such probes. Ms Bensouda's office said the ICC prosecutor would continue to her duties "without fear or favour". Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said: "If you're responsible...

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...