Latest news with #OfficeoftheProsecutor
Boston Globe
19-07-2025
- Politics
- Boston Globe
Trump order on International Criminal Court likely violates First Amendment, judge rules
The stated focus of Trump's executive order is what it characterizes as the court's 'baseless actions targeting America and our close ally Israel' and the potential arrest of 'current and former United States personnel.' But those objectives, the judge found, have little to do with the work performed by the two plaintiffs, Matthew Smith and Akila Radhakrishnan, who have assisted the court's Office of the Prosecutor with investigations in Bangladesh, Myanmar and Afghanistan. Because of the executive order, lawyers with the American Civil Liberties Union told the court, Smith and Radhakrishnan had suspended their work with the court. Advertisement The United States is not part of the treaty that founded the court, which is based at The Hague, Netherlands. It prosecutes individuals for war crimes and atrocities. An older court at The Hague, the International Court of Justice, issues opinions on broader issues between nations, such as climate change. Advertisement Torresen, who was appointed by President Barack Obama, paused the enforcement of the order while she considers the case, but only for the two plaintiffs. When Smith and Radhakrishnan filed their lawsuit in April, they sought the sweeping relief known as a nationwide injunction that would have blocked the president's order across the country. Torresen's decision appeared to reflect a June ruling by the Supreme Court that curtailed such injunctions. The Trump administration has used the executive order to impose sanctions on four ICC judges; the court's embattled prosecutor, Karim Khan; and Francesca Albanese, a special rapporteur for the United Nations who has worked with the court in its investigation of Israel's war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Last year, the court issued arrest warrants for Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, as well as the country's former defense minister and three Hamas officials. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Albanese was assisting the ICC with 'campaigns of political and economic warfare, which threaten our national interests and sovereignty.' Albanese called the sanctions against her 'mafia techniques of intimidation' in a recent phone interview with The New York Times. This article originally appeared in .
GMA Network
25-06-2025
- Politics
- GMA Network
Sara Duterte concerned Rodrigo's interim release might be rejected
As a daughter, VP Sara Duterte said she is worried that the tribunal will deny her father's release, considering his physical state. (Screenshot from Inday Sara FB Page) Vice President Sara Duterte on Wednesday expressed concerns that the interim release of her father, former president Rodrigo Duterte, might not be granted, following the petition of the Office of the Prosecutor in the International Criminal Court (ICC) to the tribunal. The Vice President said that she has not yet read the recent request by the prosecution for the chamber to reject the defense's call for Rodrigo Duterte's interim release. As a daughter, she said she is worried that the tribunal will deny her father's release, considering his physical state. 'As a daughter, I am concerned that he will not be granted interim release. He is 80 years old, he is not in good health, he's not been eating well and he needs support from familiar people and he needs the care of his family and loved ones,' she said. The Vice President, who is also a lawyer, also questioned the purpose of the provision on the interim release if it would simply be denied to the accused. The prosecution argued that Rodrigo Duterte's continued detention is necessary to ensure his appearance during trial, saying that he does not accept the legitimacy of the legal proceedings against him. It noted the former president's previous remarks against the ICC as well as the petition he filed before the Supreme Court against the cooperation of the Philippine government with the ICC. The prosecution further said that Rodrigo Duterte's allies and family members remain in positions of power. It specifically mentioned VP Sara, noting that the vice president made clear that she views his detention as illegitimate. Rodrigo's release also poses a risk to the ongoing investigation due to the possible opportunity to intimidate or threaten witnesses, as he appears to still wield considerable power, according to the prosecution. Sara Duterte, in response, emphasized that her power and authority as the Vice President do not extend beyond Philippine shores. 'I do not understand the reasoning behind opposing the interim release because of the position of the daughter. Because right now, he is not in interim release. He is detained in the ICC detention unit pero Vice President pa rin ako [but I'm still the VP],' she said. The Duterte patriarch is facing a crimes against humanity case before the ICC over his administration's drug war. Though he is currently under ICC custody, his camp has sought his release to an undisclosed country. In their request, Rodrigo Duterte's camp argued that the former president is not a flight risk. They also cited humanitarian considerations for the interim release, saying that Duterte is already 80 years old. —LDF, GMA Integrated News
Filipino Times
15-06-2025
- Politics
- Filipino Times
ICC prosecution to respond to Duterte's request for interim release
The International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecution is set to file its response to former President Rodrigo Duterte's request for interim release, which seeks to allow him to stay in a country that has reportedly agreed to receive him. In a statement, the Office of the Prosecutor confirmed that it will submit its position to Pre-Trial Chamber I, addressing the defense's application for Duterte's temporary release while facing crimes against humanity charges. 'The Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court will file before the Pre-Trial Chamber I a response to the defense's request for the interim release of Mr. Rodrigo Roa Duterte,' the prosecution said via email. Duterte, through his lawyer Nicholas Kaufman, is seeking interim release to an unnamed country—its identity redacted in the public version of the 16-page filing—which he says has agreed to accept him and enforce court-imposed conditions. The defense also claims that the prosecution has not objected to the proposed interim release, provided specific conditions laid out in a confidential annex are met. Kaufman argued that Duterte does not meet the threshold for continued detention under Article 58(1)(b) of the Rome Statute, citing no flight risk, no threat to the investigation, and no risk of committing further crimes. '[Redacted] has affirmed its principled willingness to cooperate with the court, and to accept Mr. Duterte onto its territory for the duration of his interim release and enforce conditions of release,' the defense stated. The ICC is currently conducting pre-trial proceedings against Duterte in connection with killings linked to his anti-drug campaign, both during his presidency and his term as mayor of Davao City. A ruling from the Pre-Trial Chamber on Duterte's interim release request is expected following the prosecution's response.
Saba Yemen
22-05-2025
- Politics
- Saba Yemen
ICC Prosecutors Reject Israeli Entity's Request to Revoke Arrest Warrants for Netanyahu, Gallant
Occupied Quds - Saba The Office of the Prosecutor at the International Criminal Court (ICC) has asked the court to reject Israel's request to cancel arrest warrants issued for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant. In a ten-page document published late Wednesday, the prosecutors also urged the court to dismiss Israel's request to suspend investigations into the situation in the occupied Palestinian territories. The arrest warrants, issued in November 2024, accuse Netanyahu and Gallant of committing war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza. The prosecutors stated that Israel's request, filed on May 9, 2025, lacks any legal basis, and insisted that the investigation must continue without delay. Whatsapp Telegram Email Print
Yahoo
11-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
US human rights advocates sue to block Trump's sanctions on ICC prosecutor
By Nate Raymond (Reuters) - Two U.S. human rights advocates represented by the American Civil Liberties Union on Friday filed a lawsuit challenging U.S. President Donald Trump's decision to impose sanctions on the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court. They argue that an executive order Trump signed in February imposing sanctions on ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan and barring U.S. citizens from providing services benefiting him unconstitutionally chills their free speech, in a lawsuit filed in federal court in Bangor, Maine. Fortify Rights co-founder Matthew Smith and international human rights lawyer Akila Radhakrishnan say the order bars them from speaking with the ICC's Office of the Prosecutor, including by providing legal advice and evidence, in violation of their rights under the U.S. Constitution's First Amendment. The White House and ICC did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The ICC, which opened in 2002, has international jurisdiction to prosecute genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes in member states or if a situation is referred by the U.N. Security Council. Trump's February 6 order authorized potentially far-reaching economic and travel sanctions on people who work on ICC investigations of U.S. citizens or U.S. allies such as Israel, repeating action he took during his first term. The order specifically imposed sanctions on Khan, who is British. The U.S. Department of Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control added him to a registry of sanctioned individuals and entities days later. Trump's order also said that U.S. citizens who provide services for the benefit of Khan or other sanctioned individuals could face civil and criminal penalties. The ICC and dozens of countries have condemned the sanctions, pledging to stand by its staff and "continue providing justice and hope to millions of innocent victims of atrocities across the world, in all situations before it. In Friday's lawsuit, Smith and Radhakrishnan said they had been forced as a result of Trump's order to cease human rights work involving the ICC's Office of the Prosecutor in which they had been seeking justice for victims of atrocities. Smith, who lives in Maine, said he had previously provided the office evidence of atrocities against the Rohingya, a minority Muslim group in Myanmar. Radhakrishnan said she has advised the office on investigating gender-based violence committed against Afghan women under the Taliban. "This executive order doesn't just disrupt our work—it actively undermines international justice efforts and obstructs the path to accountability for communities facing unthinkable horrors," Smith said in a statement.
