Documents reveal US-UK longstanding clash over the International Criminal Court |
The United Kingdom resisted intense US efforts to weaken the International Criminal Court (ICC) before and after the Rome Statute entered into force, newly declassified British Cabinet Office documents reveal.
The release of the records from the British National Archives comes amid renewed concerns over the UK’s commitment to international criminal justice, following allegations that British officials threatened to defund the ICC and withdraw from the Rome Statute in response to the court’s decision to seek arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in Palestine.
In early June 2002, the US sought to request a UN Security Council resolution exempting US personnel participating in UN peacekeeping missions from investigation or prosecution by the ICC.
The UK embassy in Washington reported that US officials were seeking British support, which they believed would be “key to securing sufficient backing from other Security Council members if the draft is put to a vote”.
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) described the proposal as a “sensitive political issue”. In correspondence with Sir David Manning, Prime Minister Tony Blair’s foreign policy adviser, senior officials stressed that the UK was “committed to supporting the ICC under the legally binding EU Common Position”.
They also warned against granting blanket immunity to peacekeepers, noting “the indiscipline shown by some national contingents in the past”.
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While FCO legal advisers examined the legality of the US request, Mark Sedwill, the Foreign Secretary’s private secretary, cautioned that any concession “would likely provoke strong criticism from EU partners, states party to the Rome Statute, and civil society”.
British officials suggested that Washington explore Article 98 of the Rome Statute, which........