US goes from best to worst in championing war crimes justice

In 1945, the US led the world in organizing and prosecuting war crime trials against German and Japanese war criminals. US Supreme Court Justice Robert Jackson helped draft the London Charter of the International Military Tribunal which created the legal basis for the Nuremberg Trials. Jackson gave devastating opening and closing statements, stressing that war crimes are the most heinous of all crimes. But afterwards, the US turned its back on being the beacon against war crimes. We refused to join the International Criminal Court (ICC), the international, intergovernmental agency created by the Rome Statute at a July, 1998 diplomatic conference. The ICC began operation July 1, 2002, charged with investigating genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and crimes of aggression. One hundred twenty-three nations did join, making the ICC a credible agency to carry on the important work the US instituted seventy-five years ago. It has opened 21 investigations and indicted 45 individuals for war crimes. This underscores that such monstrous conduct continues and must be relentlessly pursued.

If ignoring the ICC is unfortunate, attacking its investigations is reprehensible. In March, the ICC opened one on all sides in the 19 yearlong Afghanistan war, including the US. Rather than let justice prevail, the Trump administration launched an economic and legal offensive against the Court. It imposed visa restrictions on ICC officials, including their family members. Additionally, the administration instituted a counter investigation charging the ICC with dishonesty, financial corruption and “malfeasance at the highest levels of the office of the prosecutor”, according to US Attorney General William Barr. Moreover, Barr charged the ICC is “little more than a political tool employed by unaccountable international elites”.

It is more appropriate to cite the US as being an ‘unaccountable international elite’ waging war throughout the Middle East and Africa, killing hundreds of thousands and sending millions on the run from US firepower. You’ve come a long way since Nuremberg, Uncle Sam. Alas, you’re going down a wrong way street to worldwide infamy.