Defunding the International Criminal Court

"Over the last decade the ICC has demonstrated it is little more than a profligate, and impotent, white elephant. The court has spent $2 billion since its foundation, yet only two out of a total of 12 completed cases have resulted in convictions. America contributes taxpayer dollars to this failure, funding bounties and rewards for the arrest of those wanted by the ICC, despite not being a member...

When its 123 members represent less than one third of the earth's population, and the United States, China, India, Russia, Indonesia and Israel have all refused to join, the court simply cannot claim it is a worldwide body.

Yet this does not mean citizens of America or other non-signatories are immune from its reach. Indeed, because accusations of racial prejudice against Africans have been hard to ignore, the ICC is working hard to increase its powers and internationalize its future cases, far beyond Africa. In doing so, slowly, Americans are being implicated in its inquiries.

The court is currently investigating alleged war crimes in Afghanistan - a country that is a member - and in October claimed it had evidence of U.S. forces torturing prisoners. Israel is similarly threatened by an ongoing investigation into the 2014 Gaza conflict, made possible by the Palestinian Authority's membership. There, the ICC's chief prosecutor stated publicly Israelis are in her sights, saying 'anyone - on either side - who commits, orders, incites, encourages or contributes in any other way to the commission of crimes falling within the jurisdiction of the ICC is liable to prosecution either at the national level or at the court.'...

However, it is a new power provided to the ICC by the Assembly of States Parties that should be America's most grave concern. Titled Rule 68, it allows the prosecutor to use at trial any testimony provided by witnesses, even if they have later withdrawn, contradicted or recanted their original claims...

This means that in potential cases brought against alleged crimes in Afghanistan and Gaza, Americans and Israelis could find themselves confronted by witness testimony that has been sourced not by the ICC itself, but foreign-funded nongovernmental organizations that oppose them. This 'evidence' could then still be used - even if those who gave it later said it was untrue...

The United States in particular should not ignore the threat this institution now poses to its global interests, not least if this new, extraordinary power over witness testimony is ever put into use. Rather than continuing its tacit support for the ICC, the U.S. should instead work with its allies to ensure the court is disbanded and defunded, and this travesty of international justice is brought to an end."