US lifts sanctions against Gambia’s Fatou Bensouda
In a statement Mr Blinken said Washington continued to “disagree strongly with the ICC’s actions relating to the Afghanistan and Palestinian situations”, and that it objected to the ICC’s “efforts to assert jurisdiction over personnel of non-States Parties such as the United States and Israel”.
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“We believe, however, that our concerns about these cases would be better addressed through engagement with all stakeholders in the ICC process rather than through the imposition of sanctions,” he said.
Fatou Bensouda was elected ICC’s chief prosecutor in 2011, replacing the Argentine lawyer Luis Moreno Ocampo.
Bensouda secured some major convictions including the recent case of former Ugandan rebel commander Dominic Ongwen who was convicted of war crimes just this month.
Despite being an African serving as the chief prosecutor of the ICC, many African leaders have criticized the court for targeting only Africans.
The ICC was established by a UN treaty in 2002 but countries like China, India, USA and Russia, have all refused to join.
Source: Africafeeds.com
