00:00The United States is escalating its pressure campaign on the International Criminal Court,
00:08threatening fresh sanctions unless the ICC pledges not to prosecute President Donald Trump and senior members of his administration.
00:16According to a Trump administration official speaking anonymously to Reuters,
00:20Washington wants the ICC to amend its founding document, the Rome Statute,
00:25to ensure the court cannot investigate the President, the Vice President, the Secretary of War or other top officials.
00:33The threat includes three major U.S. demands.
00:36The ICC must guarantee it will not investigate or prosecute Donald Trump and top officials.
00:42Drop investigations into Israeli leaders over the Gaza war.
00:46Formally close the court's earlier probe into U.S. troops and CIA personnel over actions in Afghanistan.
00:52The official said Washington has already communicated these demands to ICC member states, including U.S. allies, as well as directly to the court.
01:03There is growing concern that in 2029 the ICC will turn its attention to the President, to the Vice President, to the Secretary of War and others and pursue prosecutions against them.
01:14That is unacceptable and we will not allow it to happen.
01:19The United States is not a member of the ICC and successive American administrations, both Republican and Democratic,
01:26have criticized the court, arguing it threatens U.S. sovereignty.
01:30The ICC, established in 2002, is the world's permanent war crimes tribunal.
01:36It has 125 member states, including the entire European Union.
01:41Under its mandate, the court can prosecute individuals for crimes committed on the territory of any member country, even if the accused is a sitting head of state.
01:52The tensions come at a sensitive moment.
01:54In late 2024, ICC judges issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu,
02:01former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and Hamas leader Ibrahim al-Mazri over alleged war crimes during the Gaza conflict.
02:09In 2020, ICC prosecutors opened an investigation into possible crimes committed by U.S. troops in Afghanistan.
02:16Although that probe was later deprioritized, it has never been formally closed.
02:21To pressure the court, the U.S. has already sanctioned nine ICC officials this year, including judges and prosecutors.
02:30However, Washington has not yet taken the most extreme step, sanctioning the ICC as an institution,
02:37a move that could cripple its basic functions, from paying staff salaries to accessing bank accounts and software systems.
02:44The anonymous official says Washington is reacting to open chatter in international legal circles
02:52that the court could target Trump and his officials in 2029, after his presidential term ends.
02:58The official did not specify which incidents the ICC might investigate.
03:02But U.S. military actions, including recent deadly strikes on suspected drug vessels in the Caribbean and Pacific,
03:09are already drawing scrutiny from members of Congress.
03:12The ICC did not respond to questions about whether the U.S. has directly requested immunity for Donald Trump.
03:19Changing the Rome Statute is not simple.
03:21Most amendments require approval from two-thirds of all member countries.
03:26However, any modification affecting the court's jurisdiction, such as granting immunity to certain individuals,
03:33would require an even more difficult, higher-level majority.
03:37Legal experts say granting blanket immunity for specific leaders
03:40would undermine the very foundations of the ICC.
03:45Neither the White House nor ICC deputy prosecutors commented on any requests to investigate U.S. actions in Venezuela.
03:52The timing of Washington's demands remains unclear.
03:55But if the ICC does not meet the U.S. conditions, the Trump administration is prepared to impose more sanctions,
04:02potentially targeting the court itself,
04:04a move that could significantly escalate the long-running confrontation
04:08between Washington and the world's only permanent war crimes tribunal.
04:45Thank you, everyone.
04:47Hello.
04:48Hello.
04:50Thank you for your time.
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04:54Hello.
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04:57Hi.
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05:03You are welcome.
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