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australia’s silence on trump’s ICC sanctions is nothing but shameful...

Last Friday 79 nations signed a statement condemning the announcement 24 hours earlier by genocide enabler US President Donald Trump, that he was imposing sanctions on officials of the International Criminal Court because they had issued a warrant for the arrest of architect of genocide of the Palestinian people, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

 

Australia’s silence on Trump’s ICC sanctions is nothing but shameful    By Greg Barns

 

Shamefully, but given this nation’s appalling record on human rights and its supine posture on matters Washington perhaps not surprisingly, Australia did not sign this statement. Perhaps the Albanese Government did not want to upset the Americans while Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles was handing over $800 million of taxpayer funds to Washington as part of the obscene AUKUS deal.

As likely an excuse is that the Australian body politic, with a few principled exceptions such as the Greens and Independent Andrew Wilkie, is completely captured by the Zionist lobby in this country.

According to that lobby the ICC should not have sought a warrant for Netanyahu despite the overwhelming consensus of legal scholarship arguing that this is a leader who has committed serious war crimes. Quoted in the Netanyahu Times, aka The Australian, on Saturday was one of the leaders of that relentless lobby group, Executive Council of Australian Jewry co-chief executive Alex Ryvchin. He thinks Trump is right because, “[t]he lawless behaviour of the ICC threatens every democracy, every member of the armed forces, and every politician who has to make difficult decisions of ­national security.” In other words, if you lead a democracy it’s ok to commit atrocities against innocent men, women and children and orchestrate genocide. So why shouldn’t everyone else who is on the end of an ICC warrant say, what’s good for the goose is good for the gander?

The breathtaking gutlessness by the Albanese Government in not signing Friday’s statement should send a shudder down the spine of anyone in this country who believes that human rights crimes should be prosecuted irrespective who it is, who is alleged to have committed them.

Trump’s threats, and decision to harbour a politician wanted for war crimes, means one thing. Washington, and any nation that backs its decision last week, is a rogue state. It, and they, can no longer condemn the West’s favourite whipping boys such as Russia, China and Iran.

The ICC is an important global institution. That the Americans and the Israelis don’t like it tells you that both nations have long thought they can murder, bomb, and slaughter their enemies and be allowed to get away with it.

Trump’s threats should have the Australian Government rethinking its sycophancy towards Washington. After all Canberra loves to trot out the line that Australia is committed to the rule of law and human rights.

So why didn’t Marles cancel his visit to Washington, or at the very least make a strong statement condemning his hosts for seeking to destroy the work of the ICC? Or is it that Australia, by its silence, is happy to see the ICC brought down a peg or two for fear of the harassment and bullying of the Zionist lobby being ramped up even further?

And how is it that Australia supports the ICC in issuing an arrest warrant for Vladimir Putin in respect of his actions in Ukraine, but refuses to say anything about Trump and Netanyahu? The latter’s evil actions in Gaza make Putin’s war in Ukraine pale in comparison.

While the ICC has many flaws and has been accused in the past of a pre-occupation with African countries it is, as Chatham House scholar Elizabeth Wilmshurst KC puts it, “fundamentally sound and that its role is as necessary as when it was first established.” She quotes the great South African jurist Richard Goldstone, a former chief prosecutor of the United Nations International Criminal Tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda, who has said, ‘If there were no ICC in existence today, many people in many countries would be agitating for and demanding one. That we have one is a singular achievement. It behoves us to make it the best possible and to assist it, as states, civil society, and individuals, in the best and most productive way possible.’

Trump’s sanctions against officials of the ICC deserve a serious response from Australia. Albanese and Wong either believe in international criminal law being allowed to work, or they do not. They cannot sit on the sidelines because they are scared of supporters of two well-known criminals – Trump and Netanyahu.

https://johnmenadue.com/australias-silence-on-trumps-icc-sanctions-is-nothing-but-shameful/

 

YOURDEMOCRACY.NET RECORDS HISTORY AS IT SHOULD BE — NOT AS THE WESTERN MEDIA WRONGLY REPORTS IT.

 

         Gus Leonisky

         POLITICAL CARTOONIST SINCE 1951.

 

HYPOCRISY ISN’T ONE OF THE SINS OF THE TEN COMMANDMENTS.

HENCE ITS POPULARITY IN THE ABRAHAMIC TRADITIONS…

 

trump's genocide.....

 

ICC Condemns Trump Sanctions as UN Human Rights Office Demands Reversal

 

By Jessica Corbett / Common Dreams

 

The International Criminal Court on Friday denounced U.S. President Donald Trump’s executive order sanctioning the ICC in response to arrest warrants issued for Israeli leaders over their devastating 15-month military assault on the Gaza Strip.

“The ICC condemns the issuance by the U.S. of an executive order seeking to impose sanctions on its officials and harm its independent and impartial judicial work,” the tribunal said in a statement. “The court stands firmly by its personnel and pledges to continue providing justice and hope to millions of innocent victims of atrocities across the world, in all situations before it.”

“We call on our 125 states parties, civil society, and all nations of the world to stand united for justice and fundamental human rights,” added the Hague-based ICC, which was established by a global treaty known as the Rome Statute to prosecute individuals for genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity, and the crime of aggression.

A spokesperson for the United Nations’ Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), Ravina Shamdasani, also slammed Trump’s order targeting the ICC, which she called “a central institution of the international criminal justice system and fundamental to ensuring justice and achieving accountability for the most serious crimes.”

“We fully support the independent work of the court—across all situations within its jurisdiction,” Shamdasani said Friday. “We deeply regret the individual sanctions announced yesterday against court personnel, and call for this measure to be reversed.”

“The court should be fully able to undertake its independent work—where a state is unwilling or unable genuinely to carry out the investigation or prosecution, as stated in the Rome Statute. The court is an essential part of the human rights infrastructure,” she added. “The rule of law remains essential to our collective peace and security. Seeking accountability globally makes the world a safer place for everyone.”

[Twitter: https://twitter.com/UNGeneva/status/1887803543727272365]

Since Trump signed the order—which specifically cites the court’s November warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former defense minister, Yoav Gallant—civil society groups around the world have also spoken out against the U.S. president, who previously targeted ICC officials with sanctions during his first term.

“This reckless action sends the message that Israel is above the law and the universal principles of international justice. It suggests that President Trump endorses the Israeli government’s crimes and is embracing impunity,” said Amnesty International secretary general Agnès Callamard, a former U.N. special rapporteur, in a statement.

The “aggressive” and “vindictive” order, she continued, “is a brutal step that seeks to undermine and destroy what the international community has painstakingly constructed over decades, if not centuries: global rules that are applicable to everyone and aim to deliver justice for all. The sanctions constitute another betrayal of our common humanity.”

“At an historic moment when we are witnessing a genocide against Palestinians in Gaza, Russia’s aggression against Ukraine, and the global rule of law coming under threat from multiple fronts,” she argued, “institutions like the court are needed more than ever to advance human rights protections, prevent future atrocities and secure justice for victims.”

Trump’s sanctions will not only “embolden perpetrators,” Callamard warned, “they will negatively impact the interests of all victims globally and those who look to the court for justice in all the countries where it’s conducting investigations, including Darfur, Libya, the Philippines, Palestine, Ukraine, and Venezuela.”

“The sanctions are also an affront to 125 member states who have collectively resolved that the court must be able to effectively pursue justice—which means it must be able to undertake independent judicial functions, such as issuing arrest warrants, for example, against Benjamin Netanyahu or Vladimir Putin,” said added, referring to the Russian president.

“Governments around the world and regional organizations must do everything in their power to mitigate and block the effect of President Trump’s sanctions,” Callamard concluded. “Through collective and concerted actions, ICC member states can protect the court and its staff. Urgent action is needed, like never before.”

While some governments, such as Hungary, have backed Trump’s move, others have joined the chorus of condemnation and reiterated support for the ICC.

“We reaffirm our continued and unwavering support for the independence, impartiality, and integrity of the ICC,” 79 nations—including France, Germany, and the United Kingdom—said in a joint statement reported by Reuters. “The court serves as a vital pillar of the international justice system by ensuring accountability for the most serious international crimes, and justice for victims.”
https://scheerpost.com/2025/02/08/icc-condemns-trump-sanctions-as-un-human-rights-office-demands-reversal/

 

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YOURDEMOCRACY.NET RECORDS HISTORY AS IT SHOULD BE — NOT AS THE WESTERN MEDIA WRONGLY REPORTS IT.

 

         Gus Leonisky

         POLITICAL CARTOONIST SINCE 1951.