EU rejects pressure on international criminal court
Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota introduced a resolution Wednesday urging the United States to join the International Criminal Court, directly countering the Trump administration’s pledge to dismantle the war crimes tribunal through sanctions and diplomatic pressure. The measure arrived as Secretary of State Marco Rubio vowed to dismantle the court, two days after the Trump administration pledged to systematically disable the tribunal.
Rubio has characterized the ICC as a threat to “every aspect of [America’s] political and legal system,” according to The Guardian.
“The ICC is a crucial tool for justice in places where victims have nowhere else to turn,” Omar said in a statement. “If we truly believe in human rights and the rule of law, we should strengthen international justice – not undermine it. The United States should lead by example and show that no one is above the law.”
European lawmakers have also rallied in defense of the war crimes tribunal. “We stand firm in our support for the international criminal court. Attacks or threats against the court, elected officials, personnel or those cooperating with the court are simply not acceptable,” EU spokesperson Anouar El Anouni said Tuesday.
The ICC briefly enjoyed bipartisan support after Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, despite Trump’s actions against the court during his first term. The late Sen. Lindsey Graham praised it as “a venue to bring bad actors to justice in those areas where the Rule of Law is absent,” according to The Guardian, while sponsoring a resolution urging a war crimes investigation. Omar introduced similar legislation in April 2022.
“I am reintroducing that resolution and I urge my colleagues who believe in justice and human rights to join me,” Omar said in a statement. It is unclear if her latest bill will receive broader Republican and Democratic support.
Omar’s resolution came as two US advocacy groups sued the Trump administration, arguing that Trump’s 2025 executive order forced them to halt constitutionally protected work with the ICC’s investigation into alleged Israeli war crimes in the West Bank and Gaza. Legal experts told The Guardian that Rubio mischaracterized the intentions and jurisdiction of the international court, which cannot prosecute crimes on US soil because the US is not a party to the Rome Statute, the 2002 treaty that created the ICC.
The permanent war crimes tribunal has been recognized by 125 countries. It was created after the successes of ad hoc tribunals established to prosecute atrocities committed in the former Yugoslavia, Rwanda, Cambodia and Sierra Leone.