00:00Even though we knew that this was likely to happen,
00:03it's a shocking move.
00:04It is a true blow to the international rule of law
00:09and a direct punch in the face to a court
00:13that is the only one the international community
00:15can count on to hold to account people
00:18who are responsible for the most grave crimes.
00:21So honestly, it's shocking, it's unacceptable,
00:25and it requires a very robust response
00:28from the other member states
00:29of the International Criminal Court.
00:33The initial response of a statement is excellent,
00:36but now what we need to see is, for example,
00:38the EU's blocking statute should be activated
00:42so that the official who has been sanctioned
00:46does not have to experience the sanctions
00:48in Europe at minimum.
00:50And then I think we also need to expect
00:53that there will be additional individuals potentially named.
00:57But concretely, it is a very serious and problematic thing
01:02to be targeted by the US government with sanctions.
01:05It means that your assets will be frozen,
01:08that you have no ability to use any kind of account
01:11that has dollars associated with it,
01:14that any kind of assets you might have
01:16that would touch the United States would be suddenly frozen,
01:19that you cannot get a visa to the US,
01:22which could, for a prosecutor
01:24of the International Criminal Court,
01:26really could throw a wrench,
01:27not only in his ability to meet with officials,
01:30to meet with human rights defenders,
01:32with perhaps even witnesses and victims,
01:36but also his capacity to easily go
01:38to and from the UN headquarters.
01:40So these are very, very severe potential consequences.
01:45This reminds us that these sanctions
01:47are meant to be for terrorism, terrorists,
01:51and for those, for example,
01:53involved in horrible crimes of trafficking
01:57or drug trafficking.
01:58And applying them now to a court
02:02implicates human rights lawyers
02:05who might be simply trying to get accountability
02:08for grave crimes and cooperating with the prosecutor.
02:12They could potentially be charged with material support
02:16for assisting a sanctioned person.
02:18That is shocking.
02:20So it's more severe in that way.
02:22It's an immediate reaction to the court's activity
02:27in a particular situation,
02:29in a situation where the international community
02:32unfortunately failed to stop grave violations
02:36against the people in Gaza.
02:38And now we need accountability for that situation.
02:41And instead, what we're getting is a powerful state
02:45sanctioning, attacking under law, the court.
02:50It's totally shocking.
02:52And I think for that reason,
02:53we need to keep the context in mind.
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