ICC Should Be Able To Work Independently, Impartially - French Foreign Ministry

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ICC Should Be Able to Work Independently, Impartially - French Foreign Ministry

The International Criminal Court (ICC) should be able to work freely, independently and impartially, in accordance with the ICC's Rome Statute, a representative of the French Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday.

PARIS (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 11th September, 2018) The International Criminal Court (ICC) should be able to work freely, independently and impartially, in accordance with the ICC's Rome Statute, a representative of the French Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday.

On Monday, US National Security Adviser John Bolton said that the ICC, which was seeking to look into US war crimes in Afghanistan, was a threat to US sovereignty. He added that the United States would ban ICC judges and prosecutors from entering the country and launch legal proceedings against them if the court seeks to prosecute US nationals or citizens of allied countries.

"France, along with its European partners, supports the International Criminal Court, both by the budget contribution and by cooperation with it ... The court should be able to carry out its activities without hindrance, independently and impartially, within the legal framework established by the Rome Statute," the representative told a briefing.

He added that the establishment of the ICC was an important step in the fight against impunity.

In turn, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif slammed the United States for threats against the ICC.

"The US threatens to impose sanctions on the ICC & even prosecute its judges in American courts. Where is the outrage? The boorishness of this rogue US regime seems to know no bounds. When will the international community say enough is enough & force US to act like a normal state?" Zarif wrote on Twitter.

The UN-backed court said in its 2016 report that there were reasonable grounds to believe that the United States had been complicit in the torture and ill-treatment of detainees in secret detention facilities in Afghanistan in 2003-2004.

In 2017, the court said it would carry out a more detailed investigation into the abuses by the US military in Afghanistan.

Despite the fact that the United States signed the Rome Statute in 2000, it has never ratified it.

On Monday, Bolton also said that the United States would negotiate more bilateral agreements to prevent countries from surrendering US citizens to the ICC, adding that Washington would also consider taking steps at the UN Security Council in order to constrain the international court's powers.