Five Things to Know about the International Criminal Court

Illustrative: Police escort a group of supporters of former Ivory Coast president Laurent Gbagbo outside the International Criminal Court in The Hague, Netherlands, Thursday, Feb. 6, 2020. (AP/Peter Dejong)
Illustrative: Police escort a group of supporters of former Ivory Coast president Laurent Gbagbo outside the International Criminal Court in The Hague, Netherlands, Thursday, Feb. 6, 2020. (AP/Peter Dejong)
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Five Things to Know about the International Criminal Court

Illustrative: Police escort a group of supporters of former Ivory Coast president Laurent Gbagbo outside the International Criminal Court in The Hague, Netherlands, Thursday, Feb. 6, 2020. (AP/Peter Dejong)
Illustrative: Police escort a group of supporters of former Ivory Coast president Laurent Gbagbo outside the International Criminal Court in The Hague, Netherlands, Thursday, Feb. 6, 2020. (AP/Peter Dejong)

The International Criminal Court, which celebrates its 20th anniversary on July 1, is the world's only permanent tribunal to investigate and try alleged cases of genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity and aggression where member states are unable or unwilling to do so.

Here are five things to know about the court based in the Dutch city of The Hague, which is investigating alleged war crimes in Ukraine, AFP reported.

- US, Russia, Israel opted out -
A total of 123 countries have ratified the court's founding Rome Statute, meaning they recognize its jurisdiction, but there are some conspicuous absences, notably the United States, Russia and Israel.

Both the United States and Russia have signed the Rome treaty but never ratified it. Moscow in 2016 withdrew its signature over an ICC report calling its annexation of the Crimean peninsula an occupation.

Israel opposed the court from the outset, fearing that its leaders and/or military could be targeted in politically motivated cases.

Other notable non-members include China, India and Myanmar.

The ICC can pursue nationals of non-member states for crimes committed on the soil of a member country or, as in the case of Ukraine, a non-member that recognizes its jurisdiction.

The UN Security Council can also call on the court to investigate potentially serious international crimes, as for instance in Libya and Sudan.

- Five convictions in two decades -
Between 2012 and 2021, the ICC successfully convicted five men of war crimes and crimes against humanity, all Africans.

Three of the five were former militia leaders from the war-torn Democratic Republic of Congo, with Bosco Ntaganda, a rebel leader nicknamed "Terminator" receiving the longest jail sentence the court has issued of 30 years for mass murder, rape and abduction.

The court also sent Dominic Ongwen, a commander of Uganda's notorious Lord's Resistance Army militia to jail as well as Malian extremist Ahmad al Faqi al Mahdi, who was convicted of destroying a mosque and mausoleums in the ancient Malian city of Timbuktu.

Former Ivory Coast president Laurent Gbagbo was the first former head of state to be tried by the ICC in 2016 but he was acquitted of crimes against humanity.

Some convictions were overturned on appeal, notably that of former Congolese vice-president Jean-Pierre Bemba, who was convicted of crimes committed by rebels under his command in Central African Republic but later cleared of responsibility.

- Failures and fugitives -
The court suffered a major setback in 2014 when its highest profile case -- over Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta's involvement in the inter-ethnic violence that broke out after disputed 2007 elections -- collapsed.

Kenyatta reluctantly appeared before the court, the first sitting head of state to do so, but the prosecutor was forced to drop the case amid allegations of witness intimidation and bribery.

Former Sudanese president Omar al-Bashir is also still being wanted by the ICC for genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes in the western Sudanese province of Darfur. But three years after he was deposed Sudan has yet to hand him over.

The son of former Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi, Seif al-Islam Kadhafi, has been wanted by the court on war crimes charges for over a decade.

- Dispute with Trump -
The ICC infuriated US president Donald Trump's administration in March 2020 by authorizing an investigation into alleged war crimes by US forces serving in Afghanistan.

Washington imposed sanctions on the ICC's prosecutor in protest but his successor Joe Biden later lifted them.

The investigation, which also included violence by the Taliban and ISIS group, was later suspended at the Afghan government's request but relaunched after the Taliban takeover.

Since it resumed however, it has focused on violence by the Taliban and IS to the exclusion of alleged US atrocities.

- Pivot to Ukraine -
Russia's invasion of Ukraine has vaulted the former Soviet state to the top of the agenda of a court often accused of unfairly focusing on Africa. Four days after the war started ICC prosecutor Karim Khan announced an investigation into possible war crimes.

Ukraine is not an ICC member either but it has accepted the court's jurisdiction.

A 42-strong team of ICC investigators visited Ukraine in May to gather evidence and Khan visited the Kyiv suburb of Bucha, where dozens of civilians were found murdered after the withdrawal of Russian troops.



After Dealing it Heavy Military Blows, Israel Eyes Applying Economic, Popular Pressure on Hezbollah

 This picture shows the damage at the site of overnight Israeli airstrikes that targeted the southern Lebanese city of Tyre on November 9, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hezbollah. (AFP)
This picture shows the damage at the site of overnight Israeli airstrikes that targeted the southern Lebanese city of Tyre on November 9, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hezbollah. (AFP)
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After Dealing it Heavy Military Blows, Israel Eyes Applying Economic, Popular Pressure on Hezbollah

 This picture shows the damage at the site of overnight Israeli airstrikes that targeted the southern Lebanese city of Tyre on November 9, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hezbollah. (AFP)
This picture shows the damage at the site of overnight Israeli airstrikes that targeted the southern Lebanese city of Tyre on November 9, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hezbollah. (AFP)

The first phase of Israel’s complete escalation against Hezbollah in Lebanon focused on targeting the Iran-backed party’s military positions and central command.

After assassinating its top leadership and allegedly destroying over 80 percent of its rocket arsenal, Israel is now shifting to applying pressure popular and economic pressure on Hezbollah.

Lebanon’s state National News Agency (NNA) had said that Israel has completely destroyed 37 villages and 40,000 houses in the South in its effort to create a three-kilometer-deep buffer zone and keep Hezbollah away from the border to allow the safe return of residents of northern Israel back to their homes.

The destruction has also reached historic sites of the South and eastern city of Baalbek. United Nations Special Coordinator for Lebanon Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert tweeted on November 1: “Recent evacuation orders for the cities of Baalbek and Tyre forced tens of thousands of Lebanese to flee en masse.Worsening an already catastrophic mass displacement situation.”

“Ancient Phoenician cities steeped in history are in deep peril of being left in ruins. Lebanon’s cultural heritage must not become yet another casualty in this devastating conflict,” she warned.

NNA reported on Saturday that Israeli jets destroyed two of the most important heritage homes in the southern city of Nabatiyeh, weeks after they destroyed the city’s historic market. They also struck ancient Roman ruins in Tyre.

Since the beginning of its escalation, Israel has also laid waste to vast areas of Beirut’s southern suburbs, known as Dahiyeh, a Hezbollah stronghold. Conflicting reports have emerged over the exact number of residential buildings that have been destroyed, but they are estimated in the thousands.

Dahiyeh has become a main arena for Israeli attacks, most notably the assassination of Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasralla in late September and its targeting of rocket depots.

Israel carried out intense raids on Dahiyeh overnight on Friday, striking the areas of Burj al-Barajneh, Haret Hrek, and al-Hadath.

Head of the Middle East Center for Strategic Studies retired Brigadier General Dr. Hisham Jaber noted that after Israel’s failure to combat Hezbollah on the ground, it is now focusing on destruction and displacement, especially in areas where Hezbollah enjoys popular support, to prevent or delay the return of residents back to their homes.

He told Asharq Al-Awsat that similar to the 2006 war, Israel has again failed at its ground invasion of Lebanon. Such a step will be very costly for it, so it is making do with incursions at five border points, where it has adopted its policy of destruction at a low cost and mainly focusing on areas where Hezbollah enjoys popular support.

Retired General Khaled Hamade said Israel has not completed its military goals in Lebanon. It is forging ahead in achieving its declared goal of destroying the party on all levels.

On the military level, it has destroyed the party’s command and control and assassinated top commanders. It also eliminated the majority of its arms and ammunition depots and a large part of its infrastructure in frontline border villages, he remarked.

Israel’s attacks on cities deep in Lebanon are part of its economic war on Hezbollah, whether it destroys homes, businesses and the party’s Qard al-Hassan banks, specifically in cities that are viewed as popular hubs of the party, such as Tyre, Nabatiyeh, Bint Jbeil and Baalbek.

Moreover, Hamade predicted that Israel will expand its attacks against Hezbollah to include its strongholds and areas of popular support in Syria.