During a press conference held at the European Parliament in Strasbourg on Tuesday, 11 February, Subcommittee on Human Rights (DROI) Chair Mounir Satouri (Greens/EFA, French) urged the European Union to take concrete measures to protect the International Criminal Court (ICC) from the sanctions imposed by the Trump administration (see EUROPE 13575/9).
And for good reason: US President Donald Trump issued an executive order on 6 February that notably bans ICC officials, employees, and agents as well as their families from entering the United States.
Mounir Satouri felt that these sanctions threaten the court’s very existence and indicate the multifaceted nature of international justice: acclaimed and “heartily applauded” for sanctioning Russia, [the ICC] is hindered when it targets other leaders, such as “the Israeli prime minister”.
He reiterated that the EU had previously activated the ‘blocking statute’ in 2018 to protect its businesses from US sanctions against Iran (see EUROPE 12858/11).
Today, he is calling for it to be activated to defend the ICC, believing that the stakes are even more critical: “What is at stake is more important in my opinion. What is at stake is international law, the values of the European Union, and the place that international justice holds in the balance of the world.”
For Mounir Satouri, it is a matter of calling on President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen to remind Member States of the commitment they made to the ICC so that the EU can act quickly to ensure it remains independent and functions properly. (Original version in French by Nithya Paquiry)