Graham: ICC Sanctions

Senator Lindsey Graham is one of the top voices calling for sanctions on ICC after their Chief Prosecutor Khan announced that he’s filing a request for arrest warrants for Israel’s Netanyahu and the the Minister of Defense, Gallant. “Israel and the United States are robust democracies with independent judicial systems. In the past, the ICC has threatened action against our soldiers for operations in Afghanistan. Under the theory espoused by the ICC to go after Israel, America would be a target.” Graham believes that the ICC decision completely ignores the Rome’s statute Principle of Complementarity which asserts that the ICC is a court of last resort. This means that national courts have the primary responsibility and authority to investigate and prosecute alleged international crimes. The ICC will only intervene if national jurisdictions are unwilling or unable to genuinely carry out investigations or prosecutions. The States can challenge the ICC decision based on complementarity if they can prove that they are actively investigating or prosecuting the cases in question. If the ICC determines that the national proceedings are genuine, it will defer to the national jurisdiction. The Senator also clearly states that ICC sanctions should be strong, “if we fail to act to defend our friends in Israel, America will be next.”