Support justice-driven, accurate and transparent news — make a quick donation to Truthout today! 

A U.S. senator has called on foreign leaders to impose sanctions on top U.S. officials as the Trump administration wages a campaign to dismantle the International Criminal Court (ICC).

Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Maryland) said that, if they “have any self-respect,” nations party to the ICC would take steps to stop the Trump administration’s meddling. It is extraordinary for such a call to come from a sitting member of congress.

“If European countries & other signatories to the International Criminal Court have any self-respect, they’d sanction Rubio & Trump for obstructing investigations of [Israel Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu’s war crimes,” the senator said in a post on social media on Monday.

When the Trump administration first announced sanctions against the court last year, a group of 79 countries, including major European powers like the U.K., France, and Germany, signed a statement opposing the move. “Such measures increase the risk of impunity for the most serious crimes and threaten to erode the international rule of law, which is crucial for promoting global order and security,” they wrote.

But, despite such statements, many of those nations have not taken decisive action to rein in the Trump administration — and, even further, have continued to capitulate to the administration on many repressive requests throughout Trump’s second term.

US War on ICC Isn’t New, Isn’t Just Coming From GOP, and Isn’t Just........

© Truthout