Government

United States Exercises Right To Remain Silent

The government takes premature, ill-considered steps to resist the ICC.

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Late last week, Mike Pompeo announced that the government would no longer grant visas to the staff of the International Criminal Court investigating alleged atrocities in Afghanistan. Technically, the right to remain silent doesn’t extend to the point where a suspect can refuse to even be approached by investigators, but never underestimate the United States government when it comes to taking the boldest possible approach when it comes to kneecapping global order.

The announcement comes as a curious move since the United States isn’t a party to the ICC, the ICC has no real authority to punish Americans, and the ICC isn’t even prosecuting these alleged war crimes in Afghanistan. That would seem to transform this effort into a triple-whammy of “who gives a damn,” but empty symbolic gestures of performative strength are what passes for actual strength amongst the male inadequacy club that holds sway in Washington at the moment.

An ICC prosecutor had asked to open a case into the war crimes that people like then-Vice President Dick Cheney openly bragged about on television — making this somewhat of a low-hanging fruit — but the ICC hasn’t gone ahead with the case, probably because of the aforementioned “United States not being a party to the ICC” thing. Still, with absolutely nothing at stake, the administration “fought back hard” and that’s all you can really ask of this foreign policy team:

“If you’re responsible for the proposed ICC investigation of US personnel in connection with the situation in Afghanistan you should not assume that you still have, or will get, a visa or that you will permitted to enter the United States,” Pompeo added.

The secretary of state said visas could also be withheld from ICC personnel involved in conducting probes of US allies, specifically Israel.

In an effort to further lighten the move, Pompeo suggested economic sanctions might follow. It’s unclear who he would hope to sanction over an ICC prosecution. All of Europe? Good luck with that.

One might think that promoting the rule of law on a global scale would be in the best interests of the United States. The sort of thing that might ensure aggrieved victims that justice need not be pursued by some confused attempt at terrorist vigilantism. Alas, safety is not really the priority for Pompeo and his spirit animal John Bolton when there’s lip service to be had.

While there’s still no investigation at this point, if the ICC does choose to open one, perhaps the ICC investigators should consider crossing into the U.S. through Canada because apparently that’s really easy now thanks to the administration.

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US to deny visas for ICC members investigating alleged war crimes [The Guardian]
US denying visas to International Criminal Court staff [CNN]

HeadshotJoe Patrice is a senior editor at Above the Law and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. Feel free to email any tips, questions, or comments. Follow him on Twitter if you’re interested in law, politics, and a healthy dose of college sports news. Joe also serves as a Managing Director at RPN Executive Search.

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