Foreign ministers from Europe, Canada, Japan pledge to support ICC

The foreign ministers of several European countries, as well as Canada and Japan, reaffirm their unwavering support for the International Criminal Court (ICC) in a joint statement after the US announced plans to expand sanctions.

“If put into effect, these sanctions will have a significant impact on the Court’s work, its dedicated staff and their families,” say the ministers of Canada, Denmark, Germany, France, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands and Britain.

“They work every day to bring those accused of the most serious international crimes to justice and to support their victims.”

Rights group Amnesty International also slams the US “attack” on the International Criminal Court, calling on countries to “resist” after Washington imposed sanctions on the judicial body.

US President Donald Trump’s “sanctions are designed to isolate and ultimately destroy the International Criminal Court,” Amnesty’s Erika Guevara Rosas says in a statement. “This existential attack must fail. States must take concrete action to resist the imposition of these measures.”