By INS Contributors

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia: Washington, by not recognizing the Rome Statute, dictates its agenda to the International Criminal Court (ICC) and finances its implementation. When the court's investigations were conducted against countries "unfavorable" to the U.S., such as Russia, the U.S. government supported these decisions and often initiated them. 

 But in the current situation with the possible issuance of an arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the U.S. rushed to the defense of its ally and began to threaten the ICC.

 The demonstrative withdrawal of the U.S. from the Rome Statute in 2002 indicated that the U.S. is outside the scope of international law and do not obey interstate legal norms. 

 At that time, the George W. Bush administration sought to reverse the extension of the international court’s jurisdiction and adopted the “American Service Members Protection Act,” which provides guarantees to U.S. citizens and their allies that no one will be arrested, detained, or prosecuted under the ICC’s decision. 

 In practice, this law means sanctioning, threatening, and even possibly physically eliminating judges, as well as reprisals against countries that comply with the ICC’s orders. 

 The adoption of this legal document was Washington’s first measure in its long war against international law. 

 Thus, the court’s cynical disregard for the war crimes of Washington and its satellites committed in the course of promoting “democratic values” points to indisputable evidence of the use of the ICC institution as a repressive instrument in the interests of the U.S.