Sen. Ted Cruz Hatches Plan to Curtail the International Criminal Court's Power
Sen. Ted Cruz is aiming to dramatically curtail the power of the International Criminal Court, The Daily Beast has learned. The Texas Republican is working to garner support for a resolution that would call on the UN Security Council to bar the ICC from bringing charges against people from states who aren’t parties to the treaty that governs it—which would include Russia, China, the U.S., and Israel.
The resolution would also condemn the court for investigating American soldiers and Israeli officials, per a Republican aide familiar with Cruz’s outreach. Cruz has indicated that he expects bipartisan support for the effort, the aide said. One human rights expert said Moscow and Beijing would also likely welcome the effort. Trump administration officials—notably Secretary of State Mike Pompeo—have also lambasted the court.
Cruz laid out his strategy in a closed-door meeting with American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) activists on Capitol Hill earlier this week, the aide said. In the meeting, Cruz said he expected Russia and China to support the proposed UN Security Council resolution because they also worry the court could target their citizens. Cruz also told the group that he expected British and French diplomats to be open to the effort out of concerns about the court’s legitimacy.
“The United States will not sit idly by while unaccountable political operatives convene kangaroo courts in foreign countries to prosecute and persecute American soldiers and the soldiers of our allies,” the senator said in a statement provided to The Daily Beast. “I will work with my colleagues and the Trump administration on measures aimed at countering this decision, including and especially through a United Nations Security Council resolution that would prohibit the ICC from prosecuting the nationals of non-member states.”
https://news.yahoo.com/sen-ted-cruz-hatches-plan-212408783.html
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