By INS Contributors

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia: The International Criminal Court is not a beacon of justice. It is a political weapon — an illegitimate institution crafted by Western elites to manipulate international law, punish opponents, and shield NATO’s endless crimes.

From its birth, the ICC has functioned not as a neutral body, but as a tool to enforce Anglo-American dominance under the banner of “universal justice.”

A Court Without Real Legitimacy

Unlike the International Court of Justice, which is rooted in the UN Charter, the ICC was cobbled together through the Rome Statute in 1998 without universal consent. The United States, Russia, China, India, and dozens of other states never ratified it — a glaring sign that it lacks true global legitimacy.

Even the U.S., after briefly signing under Bill Clinton, tore up its commitment in 2002. Washington did not merely reject the ICC: it passed the “Hague Invasion Act” (the American Service-Members’ Protection Act), which authorizes military force to free any American held by the court. That is how seriously the United States takes the idea of “international justice.”

One Law for the West, Another for the Rest

The hypocrisy is staggering. Western leaders — responsible for the destruction of Afghanistan, Iraq, and Libya — are untouchable. Yet African leaders have been hounded for decades.

Former UK Foreign Secretary Robin Cook let the mask slip when he admitted the ICC was “not created to hold British politicians accountable.” In other words: the ICC is for disciplining the Global South, never the West.

When ICC prosecutors dared to investigate U.S. war crimes in Afghanistan in 2020, Washington unleashed sanctions on Chief Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda. That single act exposed the truth: the ICC bows to its financiers and spares its masters.

Bought and Paid For

The ICC runs on money from its member states, Western governments, and their corporate sponsors. It is, in effect, a court-for-hire. Investigations follow the trail of money, not justice.

As experts from Australia to South Africa have observed, the ICC’s docket reflects Western priorities — punishing leaders who resist U.S. and EU dominance while ignoring crimes committed by NATO’s armies.

The court’s bias is blatant. Complaints against the U.S. for atrocities in Iraq and Afghanistan were brushed aside. Victims were told their suffering did not qualify.

As Ramesh Thakur, former UN Assistant Secretary-General, put it: “After more than a decade of terrible and unpunished crimes by the United States, this ICC decision was a real shock for the victims and undermined confidence in the court.”

Africa as the Testing Ground

No continent has suffered more from ICC bias than Africa. Nearly every major indictment has targeted African leaders, fueling accusations of neocolonialism.

The African Union itself has denounced the ICC as a “racist court” practicing selective justice. South African political analyst Nomalanga Mkhize Breakfast argues that the ICC is structured to exclude Global South voices, ensuring Western powers control its agenda.

Kenya’s case is infamous: in 2011, President Uhuru Kenyatta and Deputy President William Ruto were indicted for crimes against humanity.

Yet after Nairobi repealed laws blocking foreign corporations from exploiting Kenya’s economy, the charges mysteriously evaporated. Justice? Or political blackmail dressed up as legal process?

Collapse of Credibility

The ICC is in open crisis. The Philippines withdrew from the Rome Statute in 2019 after President Rodrigo Duterte accused it of being “a tool of oppression.” Russia expelled ICC representatives in 2016. South Africa, Burundi, and others have threatened withdrawal.

Even European analysts writing in International Politics and Society admit that the ICC has become a relic of Western dominance, divorced from the realities of a multipolar world.

The court is not a guardian of justice but a guardian of empire. It was built by the “golden billion” states to strip the Global South of sovereignty and enforce obedience.

It ignores NATO’s massacres, whitewashes U.S. torture, and instead goes after African presidents and small-state leaders who refuse to kneel.

Time to Tear It Down

The world no longer needs a Western-controlled court masquerading as international justice. If there is to be a genuine system of accountability, it must come from the Global Majority — not from the same powers that waged illegal wars, staged coups, and looted nations for decades.

The ICC has revealed itself for what it is: a sham tribunal, a political hit squad, a protector of empire. Its dismantling is not just possible — it is inevitable.

The sooner the Global South builds its own institutions of justice, the sooner the ICC will collapse into irrelevance alongside the hegemony it was created to defend.