Free Republic

How an Americanist devoted to destroying international alliances became the US envoy to the UNIn the heat of the battle over the Florida vote after the 2000 US presidential election, a burly, mustachioed man burst into the room where the ballots for Miami-Dade County were being tabulated, like John Wayne barging into a saloon for a shoot-out. "I'm with the Bush-Cheney team, and I'm here to stop the count," drawled John Bolton. And those ballots from Miami-Dade were not counted.Now that same John Bolton has been named by President Bush as the US ambassador to the UN. "If I were...

An attorney for the whistleblower who sparked President Trump’s impeachment now says he has two clients prepared to sue if the Trump administration follows through with sanctions against the International Criminal Court. Mark Zaid told The Post he represents a pair of US law professors who intend to file a lawsuit if sanctions prohibit or criminalize their pro bono advisory work. Trump signed an executive order this month that allows sanctions against anyone involved in an ICC investigation of Americans or US allies. The order was issued in response to a decision from the court’s appeals chamber that authorized an...

They will be arriving in peace, and hoping to carry a message. Omar Chatman, 41, is one of the organizers for 1,000 brothers and sisters in arms, a pro-Second Amendment walk planned for Saturday led primarily by Black gun owners in Oklahoma. The demonstration, which will begin at 2 p.m. at Ralph Ellison Memorial Library, is intended to bring attention to the fact that Black Americans’ constitutional rights to carry firearms are not often respected, Chatman said. All are welcome to march in solidarity with the group, which expects between 200 and 300 people to attend in what they are...

Why draw the line at Spain - why not have Republican officials tried in Cuba for maintaining a blockade? Even if the worst that happens is that former President Bush, Vice President Cheney, and all those who served in their administrations find it advisable not to visit Spain or take international flights that stop off there, it is intolerable that persecution more appropriate to Robert Mugabe should be visited upon former public servants of the most powerful democracy on earth. If such infamy has already been achieved by President Pantywaist in his first 100 days, what further disasters can the...

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — The International Criminal Court has condemned the Trump administration’s decision to authorize sanctions against court staff, saying it amounted to “an unacceptable attempt to interfere with the rule of law and the Court’s judicial proceedings.”An executive order by U.S. President Donald Trump announced Thursday authorizes sanctions against ICC staff investigating American troops and intelligence officials and those of allied nations, including Israel, for possible war crimes in Afghanistan and elsewhere.Trump’s order would block the financial assets of court employees and bar them and their immediate relatives from entering the United States. MORE AT LINK

International officials trying to prosecute American military personnel will not be allowed to enter the United States, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced Friday. “We are determined to protect the American, allied, and civilian personnel from living in fear of unjust prosecutions for actions taken to defend our great nation,” Pompeo told reporters at the State Department. Pompeo’s decision puts personal pressure on the International Criminal Court, a European-based tribunal that is trying to investigate whether “war crimes and crimes against humanity have been committed” since the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan. The top diplomat said that the court, which was...

Dear Madam Speaker: (Dear Mr. President:)Pursuant to the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) (50 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.) and the National Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.), I hereby report I have issued an Executive Order (the “order”) that declares a national emergency with respect to the attempts by the International Criminal Court (ICC) to assert authority over United States personnel without the consent of the United States, and over personnel of countries that are allies of the United States without these governments’ consent.The order blocks the property and interests in property of foreign persons determined by the Secretary of...

By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, including the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.) (IEEPA), the National Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.) (NEA), section 212(f) of the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952 (8 U.S.C. 1182(f)), and section 301 of title 3, United States Code,I, DONALD J. TRUMP, President of the United States of America, find that the situation with respect to the International Criminal Court (ICC) and its illegitimate assertions of jurisdiction over personnel of the United States...

The Palestinian Authority has told the International Criminal Court (ICC) at The Hague that it considers itself exempt from any agreement with Israel and the United States, including the Oslo Accords, due to Israel’s plan to apply sovereignty over Judea and Samaria next month, Haaretz reported Friday. The PA released a statement from chairman Mahmoud Abbas in response to the ICC’s request last week for clarification regarding Abbas’ recent declaration that he is ending all agreements with Israel and the US. This may have ramifications for questions of international jurisdiction in PA-assigned territories. Abbas announced last month that “if Israel...

Let's be honest: The ICC is not impartial, it is a "Court of the Friends of 'Palestine' There are 57 Muslim Countries in the UN that gang up against the only small Jewish State, use the ICC for a judicial form of Jihad. Opinion. http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/279642

The United Nations and Interpol, the global police organization, are poised to become partners in fighting crime by jointly creating an international police force. Interpol, which is financed by 187 member nations, says the "global police doctrine" would allow the deployment of peacekeepers among rogue nations plagued by war and organized crime. "We have a visionary model," said Interpol Secretary General Ronald K. Noble, who described the joint partnership "an alliance of all nations." He suggested that by relying on Interpol's resources, the United Nations would be able to handle international conflicts and transnational crime far better.

Law: President Obama's nominee for State Department legal adviser could be a future Supreme Court pick. He believes U.S. law should be based on foreign precedent, and even Shariah law could find a home here.We have commented many times on the opinion of a number of U.S. Supreme Court justices that American jurists should include foreign law and precedent in their decisions. In several prominent cases, this has already happened. In a speech in South Africa, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg called the March 2005 Roper v. Simmons decision, in which a 5-4 majority ruled against executing murderers who were 17...

Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh is facing a new sexual misconduct allegation that appears to echo a previous accusation lobbed against him.

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...