Tag: International Criminal Court

More Sanctions & Stuff

Donald the Orange has been busy with his smoking quill signing EO after EO (when will the Congress get involved?) this time it is not some nation but the International Criminal Court in The Hague.

Day after his majesty Israel’s BiBi came to DC the Lord High Destroyer issued yet another EO against an international organization….

Days after his meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House, President Trump plans to place sanctions on the International Criminal Court. Officials say the court, which issued an arrest warrant for Netanyahu in November, will be sanctioned for “improperly” targeting the US and its allies, reports Reuters. According to a fact sheet seen by NBC News, the order will include financial sanctions and visa restrictions against ICC officials who take part in investigations of US citizens or US allies. Their family members will also be sanctioned.

“The ICC was designed to be a court of last resort,” the fact sheet states. “Both the United States and Israel maintain robust judiciaries.” The 125-member court, based in The Hague, Netherlands, prosecutes international crimes including war crimes and genocide. Others on its wanted list include Vladimir Putin and Hamas leaders. The US, Israel, Russia, and China are not members. Sources tell Reuters that the court has been braced for possible sanctions for months and has paid salaries three months in advance.

Trump also targeted the ICC during his first term, the BBC reports. In 2020, he sanctioned officials of what then-Secretary of State Mike Pompeo called a “kangaroo court” over its plans to investigate alleged war crimes in Afghanistan. The Biden administration lifted the sanctions in 2021.

This means nothing to some because they have no idea what this organization is about…..they listen to Billy Buzzbrain for their definition….

The International Criminal Court (ICC) investigates and, where warranted, tries individuals charged with the gravest crimes of concern to the international community: genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity and the crime of aggression. As a court of last resort, it seeks to complement, not replace, national Courts. Governed by an international treaty called the Rome Statute.

The Court was first brought about in 1919 it was never ratified after WW1 and again in 1948….

The US is not a member nor does it contribute to the budget….do I need to repeat that to get it through some thick skulls?

Why sanctions?  It is to protect Israel no other reason no matter if they committed a crime or not.

Since the US is not a member what good does this sanction EO have?

As our lives get better with Donald….

En route to the Super Bowl Sunday, President Trump previewed an announcement he says is coming Monday. “Any steel coming into the United States is going to have a 25% tariff,” he told reporters aboard Air Force One. “Aluminum, too.” He also promised “reciprocal tariffs” coming later in the week, “probably Tuesday or Wednesday,” which the AP takes to mean that the US will impose import duties in response to other countries that have imposed such duties on the US. “If they are charging us 130% and we’re charging them nothing, it’s not going to stay that way,” he said. But some trading partners might not be affected, NBC News reports.

“It won’t affect everybody, because there are some where we have similar tariffs, but the ones that are taking advantage of the United States, we’re going to have a reciprocity,” Trump continued. “Very simply it’s if they charge us, we charge them.” A survey last week found that Americans are expecting Trump’s tariffs to bump up inflation, and after Trump first promised reciprocal tariffs on Friday, financial markets dropped. While Trump has sometimes painted tariffs as fees that other countries pay, it’s actually importers who pay the duties, and those US companies often pass along the higher prices to consumers.

Then there is his desire for a 51st state….

A prerecorded interview between President Trump and Bret Baier of Fox News aired during the network’s Super Bowl pregame show Sunday, and during it, the president said he’s not joking when he makes remarks about Canada becoming the “51st state.” Asked by Baier if it was “a real thing,” as outgoing Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau reportedly warned business and labor leaders Friday, Trump responded, “Yeah it is.” He continued, “I think Canada would be much better off being the 51st state because we lose $200 billion a year with Canada. And I’m not going to let that happen. Why are we paying $200 billion a year, essentially a subsidy to Canada?”

As the AP puts it, “the US is not subsidizing Canada.” Rather, it purchases things from Canada, including commodities; the $72 billion trade gap seen in 2023 is largely due to how much energy, including oil, the US imports from Canada. As for the pregame interview, it’s a longstanding presidential tradition, though former President Biden declined to participate for the past two years and Trump only participated three of the four years of his first presidential term. The rest of the interview will air Monday on Special Report With Bret Baier, USA Today reports.

Finally that damn pesky penny….

President Trump says he has directed the Treasury Department to stop minting new pennies, citing the rising cost of producing the one-cent coin, the AP reports. “For far too long the United States has minted pennies which literally cost us more than 2 cents. This is so wasteful!” Trump wrote in a post Sunday night on his Truth Social site. “I have instructed my Secretary of the US Treasury to stop producing new pennies.” He added, “Let’s rip the waste out of our great nations budget, even if it’s a penny at a time.”

Trump had not discussed his desire to eliminate the penny during his campaign. But Elon Musk’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency raised the prospect in a post on X last month highlighting the penny’s cost. The US Mint reported losing $85.3 million in the 2024 fiscal year that ended in September on the nearly 3.2 billion pennies it produced. Every penny cost nearly $0.037—up from $0.031 the year before. The mint also loses money on the nickel, with each of the $0.05 coins costing nearly $0.14 to make. It is unclear whether Trump has the power to unilaterally eliminate the lowly one-cent coin. Currency specifications—including the size and metal content of coins—are dictated by Congress.

That should pay off the national debt in record time.

Can you just feel your lives getting better everyday?

This whole clown show called the Trump administration is wasting time and money doing shit that has nothing to do with their infamous claim of “Make America Great Again”…..what a fucking joke…..but it works well with the ignorant slugs that support his brand of hatred.

Enough Said!

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

More Wasted Time

The House of Representatives is nothing but a black hole of wasted time and energy….I have been saying this for years…..the Reps send more time passing stupid bills that usually go go nowhere and when they are not wasting that time they are wasting it on some lame ass Congressional hearing that is nothing more that a theater of the absurd….I give you the stupidity of the Fauci hearing.

But that is not what I am hear to rant about…..the bill to sanction the ICC.

In a 247-155 vote, the House passed a bill today that would impose sanctions on anyone who has assisted the International Criminal Court in its investigation of Israel’s conduct in Gaza, a group that could include U.S. allies like Germany and Japan that fund the tribunal.

The bill, titled the Illegitimate Court Counteraction Act, aims to punish the ICC for its chief prosecutor’s recent decision to seek arrest warrants against several leaders from Israel and Hamas, including Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. More than 40 Democrats joined Republicans to back the proposal despite opposition from the Biden administration.

The bill, which faces an uphill battle in the Democrat-controlled Senate, would also sanction immediate family members of those targeted. The sanctions include bans on entering the U.S. and doing business with American companies or citizens.

“We cannot stand by and allow the court to do what it’s doing,” said Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas), a lead sponsor of the legislation. Roy argues the proposal would send a strong message to the international community that the United States will not allow politicized cases against itself or its allies.

“This is a kangaroo court,” said Rep. Guy Reschentaler (R-Pa.), another sponsor of the bill. “To defend it is to defend an institution that is anti-American, anti-Israel and anti-semitic.”

The vote came just a day after the Biden administration announced that it opposed the bill. “There are more effective ways to defend Israel, preserve U.S. positions on the ICC, and promote international justice and accountability, and the Administration stands ready to work with the Congress on those options,” the White House said in a statement, leaving open the possibility of a compromise on sanctions against the court.

https://responsiblestatecraft.org/us-sanctions-icc/

This is a complete waste of time.

How much did this cost AIPAC?

This country has many problems in search of solutions and yet those we elect to better the nation spend their time pissing around with meaningless horse manure.

This is just an example of the do-nothing BS that the Reps psend their time and our money doing.

This is stupidity personified.

Why do we allow this sort of thing to continue?

Easy answer….MONEY!

And this corruption gets worse every year.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Play That Antisemitism Card

The ruling by the International Criminal Court has BiBi up in arms……

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned Friday’s ruling: “Today the ICC proved once again that it is a political body and not a judicial institution,” he said. “The ICC ignores the real war crimes and instead pursues the State of Israel, a state with a strong democratic government that sanctifies the rule of law, and is not a member of the ICC.

“In this decision,” Netanyahu added, “the ICC violated the right of democracies to defend themselves against terrorism, and played into the hands of those who undermine efforts to expand the circle of peace. We will continue to protect our citizens and soldiers in every way from legal persecution.”

https://www.france24.com/en/middle-east/20210205-icc-rules-it-has-jurisdiction-over-palestinian-territories-clears-way-for-probe-of-israeli-actions

“Pure anti-Semitism,” Netanyahu said, raising an argument likely to strike a chord with many Israelis who believe that criticism, especially in Europe, of Israeli policies toward the Palestinians has its roots in anti-Jewish sentiment.

Why is everything that does not go Israel’s way antisemitism?

Of course the US has to kiss Israel’s ass….so they oppose this action by ICC…..

In the US, State Department spokesman Ned Price said his office was still reviewing the decision. However, he clarified that the Biden administration has “serious concerns about the ICC’s attempts to exercise its jurisdiction over Israeli personnel.”

“We have always taken a position that the court’s jurisdiction should be reserved for countries that consent to or that are referred to by the UN Security Council,” Price added, hinting at US opposition to the decision, given that Israel is not a member of the ICC. The US is also not a member. The Palestinians joined the court in 2015.

There is a reason that Israel and the US has not singed on to the ICC.

The ICC is meant to serve as a court of last resort when countries’ own judicial systems are unable or unwilling to investigate and prosecute war crimes.

Has anyone else noticed that the countries that commit the worse offensives do not sign on?

Sorry but the destruction of crops, theft of land and extrajudicial raids and imprisonment without charge are all war crimes in my book.

Look at the BDS Movement…..a group that boycotts Israel until they start treating Palestinians humanely has been labelled ‘antisemitic’ by our Congress and admin……this is bullshit!

The Biden administration “embraces and champions” the so-called IHRA definition of anti-Semitism, a State Department official said on Monday.

Kara McDonald, deputy assistant secretary of state for democracy, human rights and labor, praised the definition “with its real-world examples” as “an invaluable tool” to “call hate by its proper name and take effective action,” according to the JTA news agency.

McDonald is serving temporarily as the Biden administration’s point person on the issue until it names a special envoy on anti-Semitism.

The IHRA definition has been promoted by Israel and its lobby groups.

It has been strongly opposed by civil libertarians and Palestinian and Jewish organizations which see it as a pretext to smear and censor supporters of Palestinian rights.

Its use as a tool of censorship has even been criticized by the definition’s original author.

My First Amendment rights….if Trump can use it then we all can.

Israel can kiss my old ass….call that what you may.

Be Smart!

Learn Stuff!

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

The “Law And Order” Nation

For as long as I can remember the US has run on a political platform of “law and order”….and especially the GOP, it is the Law and Order party.

We are a country that prides ourselves on being a nation of laws and the use of courts to maintain order.

It is not a perfect system but a system that we are very proud of….if all that is true why is the International Criminal Court (ICC) catching Hell from Our Dear Leader and his minions?

John Bolton gave his first major speech as national security adviser Monday, and it was a doozy. He unloaded on the “illegitimate” International Criminal Court and warned its judges they will pay a stiff price if they go after US troops in Afghanistan, reports the New York Times. “The United States will use any means necessary to protect our citizens and those of our allies from unjust prosecution,” said Bolton. “We will ban its judges and prosecutors from entering” the US, “we will sanction their funds in the US financial system, and we will prosecute them in the US criminal system.” He added that the same punishments apply to “any company or state that assists in an ICC investigation of Americans.” The speech came as the US took a related action by shutting down the Palestine Liberation Organization’s office in DC.

The two developments are related in that Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas is threatening to take Israel to the ICC, reports CNN. The “PLO has not taken steps to advance the start of direct and meaningful negotiations with Israel,” says the State Department in justifying the office closure. And Bolton added, “We will not allow the ICC, or any other organization, to constrain Israel’s right to self-defense,” per the Wall Street Journal. Bolton, along with many on the right, has long viewed the ICC as hostile to America, notes the Times. “The largely unspoken, but always central, aim of its most vigorous supporters was to constrain the United States,” Bolton said Monday. Now, he says, per the Guardian, “the ICC is already dead to us.”

Seriously?  A nation that prides itself on living a life of “law and order” does not want to live by “law and order”?

Bolton took the occasion of an appearance before a group of lawyers to declare the US government’s defiance of any constraint on its actions under international law, which he characterized as an attack on American sovereignty. His main concern was not so much for front-line soldiers, as for the decision-makers, from military commanders on the battlefield to war planners and strategists in Washington, right up to the White House itself, who he said were in danger of being “intimidated” by the threat of war crimes charges.

https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2018/09/11/bolt-s11.html

This is the perfect situation to explain a Trump as president.  The rules and laws do not apply to the US for we can do as we want with no interference of laws.

I feel it should be mandatory if a nation is to do business globally then the ICC member they should be.

Closing Thought–16Feb18

Dictators always get their due! (most times)

There is one thing, well there are many but in this case there is just one, about Trump and his seemingly admiration for authoritarian leaders like Putin, Erdogan and Duterte…..these types of leaders seem to always have a heavy hand when dealing with there population especially those in opposition…..and an American president seems to like their actions.

Duterte has even gone so far as to brag about personally killing people……his boasting may have got his cocky ass in hot water with the ICC……

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte welcomes a preliminary investigation into allegations of crimes against humanity now underway by the International Criminal Court, a spokesman said Thursday, marking an about-face for a man who once described the ICC as “bulls—.” Duterte is “sick and tired of being accused” and is prepared to defend himself in court, though the investigation is “a waste of the court’s time and resources,” spokesman Harry Roque said in announcing the inquiry that is to decide whether there’s evidence to build a case, report the New York Times and Guardian. Roque maintained the government crackdown that’s left an estimated 12,000 people dead under Duterte’s leadership—though police put the number at 4,000—is a “legitimate police operation” to weed out drugs.

Duterte swore to “kill” criminals when he took office in June 2016. He has since faced accusationsof mass murder while keeping up a “great relationship” with President Trump. It’s those allegations that launched the ICC probe, confirmed by a prosecutor, per the Guardian. In a complaint sent to the ICC last April, a Filipino lawyer representing two men who say they were assassins for Duterte called him a “mastermind” of killings spanning the three decades since he became mayor of Davao in 1988. “Hopefully a warrant of arrest will be issued by the ICC against Duterte and his cohorts,” 11 of whom are named in the complaint, the lawyer said, per the Times. Arguing the government is attempting a cover-up, Duterte political opponent Gary Alejano says ICC officials “are the only ones who can step in.”

To illustrate what a “swell” guy this toad Duterte truly is……

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte told soldiers last week to shoot female rebels in their genitals, the latest of several violent, misogynistic remarks.

Addressing a group of former communist rebels on Wednesday, Duterte, who served as a mayor before becoming president, appeared to encourage the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) to target women in conflict.

“Tell the soldiers. ‘There’s a new order coming from the mayor. We won’t kill you. We will just shoot your vagina,’ ” he said.

“If there is no vagina, it would be useless,” Duterte continued, according to local media reports, appearing to imply that women are useless without their genitals.

This is the little prick that Trump had glowing remarks about….

Personally I think all nations should be members of the ICC but some countries are afraid to be held up to international laws…..countries like the USA.

Closing Thought–23Nov16

Justice……

There is a group that tries to keep the world safe from a/wads and murders in nations…..the ICC…..

After WW2 and the founding of the UN the world attempted to find a way to make those that commit atrocities to be held accountable for their crimes…..

Most of history’s worst killers have gone unpunished. Josef Stalin said, “A single death is a tragedy, a million deaths is a statistic.” The ICC represents a strong and growing commitment by the international community to end impunity for atrocity crimes in the 21st Century.

After violent armed conflicts or other massive assaults on civilian populations, many countries remain mired in cycles of violence and retribution. Prosecuting individuals for atrocity crimes can:

  • Achieve justice for the victims and for society and help create respect for the rule of law;
  • Counter attempts to blame nations or ethnic, religious, or other groups as a whole for the crimes of individuals;
  • Isolate and incapacitate criminal leaders so that they can be removed from active political participation;
  • Acknowledge and condemn the suffering of victims and survivors;
  • Establish an accurate historical record; and
  • Act as a deterrent to future criminals.

These benefits can be advanced by the mere existence of the ICC. States will be encouraged to investigate and prosecute atrocity crimes because, if they do not, the ICC may find it necessary to pursue its own investigations and prosecutions.

Personally, I think it is a good idea…this would try to hold people like Stalin, Hitler, Mussolini et al responsible for their actions…..the problem is not all countries signed onto the ideal……like the US.

Recently some Africa countries that had signed are pulling their signatures because they say that 3rd world countries are targeted while others seem to skate from facing justice…..(below is a post that I did on this situation)…..

Source: Is Justice Truly Blind? – In Saner Thought

It appears that another country has decided to pull their signature also….Russia…..

Source: Russia withdraws signature from international criminal court statute | World news | The Guardian

This institution has not lived up to the promises it made to the international community….countries like the US did not sign on because of many reasons but the biggest in my mind is that they do bot want to be held accountable for their actions……

I think that if a country signs on to the UN then it must also sign on to the ICC of their UN application will not be processed.

Is Justice Truly Blind?

International justice is administered through the International Criminal Court (ICC)……blood thirsty dictators have been brought up on charges and other rulings have been made official…..

There has been considerable (and a mostly successful) effort to set up an International Criminal Court (ICC). The purpose is to have a body that can prosecute serious crimes against humanity no matter who committed them and to try people for gross violations of human rights, such as those committed during military conflicts. Why have some nations, such as the United States, feared a loss of sovereignty even when that would not happen, and thus sought to undermine the ICC?

Read “International Criminal Court: Introduction” to learn more.

However if one goes back through their rulings it seems to be against mostly third world figures and people…..there has been very little justice dealt out to the “civilized” nations…..

Personally, I think that all nations should be held accountable for their actions especially when in involves the massacre of people and the destruction of the civilization….

Every nations must be part of the ICC if they are represented in the UN…that way ALL nations can be held to the same standard.

But that is not how the ICC works….and a few nations are calling it quits over the one-sided rulings and actions……

A third African country says it will leave the International Criminal Court as fears grow of a mass pullout from the body that pursues some of the world’s worst atrocities. Gambia announced the decision on TV Tuesday, accusing the court of unfairly targeting Africa and calling it the “International Caucasian Court for the persecution and humiliation of people of color, especially Africans,” per the AP. The move comes after South Africa last week notified the UN secretary-general it would leave the court; withdrawal takes effect a year after the notification is received. Early last week, Burundi’s president signed legislation to leave the court as well. The EU director for Human Rights Watch calls the decisions “shameful.”

Gambia’s decision is striking because the ICC’s chief prosecutor is Gambian. However, the country’s information minister says the court is involved in “the persecution of Africans, and especially their leaders,” rather than those in Western countries. He singled out former British Prime Minister Tony Blair for his role in the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Only Africans have been charged in the six ICC cases that are ongoing or about to begin, though preliminary investigations have opened elsewhere. Signatory countries have a legal obligation to arrest anyone sought by the tribunal, but some African states have allowed people wanted by the ICC, notably Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, to visit, and some say leaders ought to be immune from prosecution.

These nations have a point…look at the rulings in the last decade or so…..it will bear out their accusations…..

BiBi, Never Let Your Mouth Overload Your Ass

Have you had enough of the BS surrounding the announcement by Ted Cruz yet?

Our man in Israel, BiBi, has won his little election……with some help from some pretty damning statements….like :never will be a two state solution” (paraphrase and his racist rant about Arab-Israeli voters….”Arabs are voting in droves”……all of which energized the far right and brought them out to vote…..and he won!

The US is not happy with him to say the least…….his words have shown why there has been NO substantial progress on peace negotiations…….I have been saying it is time for the US to step back and make Israel stand on their own….and maybe there is a chance this could occur……

A spat between Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu and President Obama, coupled with Netanyahu openly campaigning on his opposition to Palestinian statehood, seems to have changed that, and Obama has warned Netanyahu that the US is re-assessing its policies on Israel.

That could mean a lot of different things, but administration officials say it includes serious consideration of backing a UN Security Council resolution supporting, in principle, Palestinian statehood along the 1967 borders.

About damn time and at a time when Israel is struggling with the ICC and human rights abuse allegations………the UN is looking into the claims but in the past the US has acted as the lawyers for Israel and vetoed any action attempted against the country…..that could be closing in on an outdated issue……we can hope.

Israel as I have said is being called up for their attacks in Gaza…….and with the hope to head off an ICC investigation Israel has launched its own……

In a statement late Thursday it says the Military Advocate General ordered six investigations, two of which were concluded with no wrongdoing found.

One case concerns the death of some 20 people who had taken shelter at a U.N. school in July.

The Gaza war left more than 2,100 Palestinians dead, mostly civilians, according to Palestinian and U.N. officials. On the Israeli side, 66 soldiers and six civilians were killed.

Would anyone trust the perpetrator to carry out an effective investigation into his actions?

This could be disastrous for BiBi if the US decides they have had enough of the antics of this liar and his games…….time for the US to do the right thing…….now Americans need to ask……Is BiBi lying now or was he lying in years past?

No matter which it is….he is a liar and cannot be trusted to act as a reliable partner in the Middle East.