Sir, – The United States’ sanctions on six judges and three prosecutors of the International Criminal Court (ICC) for authorising arrest warrants for Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu should trouble anyone committed to international law – including the Irish Government.
One of the sanctioned judges, French jurist Nicolas Guillou, has described how these measures have effectively cut him off from normal economic life. He cannot maintain accounts with big US companies, make online purchases, book hotels, or use widely accepted credit cards such as Visa or Mastercard. Even non-US banks hesitate to provide services. As he puts it, he has been “economically banned across most of the planet”. Such penalties are normally reserved for terrorists, not judges carrying out their mandate.
That a European citizen serving in a European-based international institution can be targeted in this way should deeply concern all European governments. This is not just an attack on individual judges, but on the principle that war crimes and crimes against humanity must be investigated impartially. If powerful states can punish judges for authorising inquiries, the credibility of the entire international justice system is at risk.
This episode amounts to a direct attempt by the Trump administration to undermine the independence of the ICC and to intimidate those who seek to hold Israel – or any state – accountable for grave violations of human rights.
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Ireland has long championed the rule of law. It should not remain silent now. – Yours, etc,
OWEN O’LOUGHLIN
Cherrywood
Dublin 18
