ICC judge wants EU to respond and neutralize US attacks and sanctions

ANDin particular, he warned that “what is at stake is the survival of the Court and what it represents”.

Guillou, in a press conference, held after a closed meeting with MEPs, said that he lives daily what implies the “lack of sovereignty” of Europe when, for example, he cannot do online shopping for US sanctions.

The judge expressed confidence that the EU will recover this sovereignty with measures such as the digital euro project, but also demanded more urgent actions for the short term, especially the use of the Blocking Statute, an instrument with which the EU relies to minimise the effect of foreign sanctions on European soil.

“Europe needs to protect its values, the ICC and who works there, work with the banks, with all the companies that work with the Court and activate the Blocking Statute,” he said.

For years the United States has had a conflict with the ICC, which has worsened with investigations related to Israel, which include a warrant for arrest on behalf of Benjamin Netanyahu and previous investigations into alleged war crimes in Afghanistan.

The most recent sanctions announced by the US in mid-August focused on the president himself, Tomoko Akane, and another judge, Senegalese Abdoulaye Seye.

US and Israel are not States under the Rome Statute and refuse the ICC to have jurisdiction over its citizens.

The court maintains without reservation that it may exercise it on alleged crimes committed in the territory of a subscribing State or territory whose jurisdiction has been recognised by the Court, such as Palestine.

The ICC, established in 2002 and based in The Hague, is an independent court charged with investigating individuals for genocide, war crimes, human rights and aggression, when national courts cannot or want to do so.