WASHINGTON (AP) — The United States will revoke or deny visas to International Criminal Court personnel seeking to investigate alleged war crimes and other abuses committed by U.S. forces in Afghanistan or elsewhere, and may do the same with those who seek action against Israel, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Friday.

Pompeo, acting on a threat delivered in September by U.S. national security adviser John Bolton, framed the action as necessary to prevent the international body from infringing on U.S. sovereignty by prosecuting American forces or allies for torture or other war crimes.

“We are determined to protect the American and allied military and civilian personnel from living in fear of unjust prosecution for actions taken to defend our great nation,” Pompeo said.

U.S. officials have long regarded the Netherlands-based ICC with hostility, arguing that American courts are capable of handling any allegations against U.S. forces and questioning the motives of an international court.

The ICC and its supporters, including human rights groups that denounced Pompeo’s announcement, argue that it is needed to prosecute cases when a country fails to do so or does an insufficient job of it.

The visa restrictions would apply to any ICC employee who takes or has taken action “to request or further such an investigation” into allegations against U.S. forces and their allies in Afghanistan that include forced disappearances and torture.

Pompeo said the restrictions “may also be used to deter ICC efforts to pursue allied personnel, including Israelis, without the allies’ consent,” he said.

The Hague-based court, the first global tribunal for war crimes, said it would continue to operate “undeterred” by the U.S. action.

The ICC prosecutor has a pending request to look into possible war crimes in Afghanistan that may involve Americans. The Palestinians have also asked the court to bring cases against Israel.

Speaking directly to ICC employees, Pompeo said: “If you are responsible for the proposed ICC investigation of U.S. personnel in connection with the situation in Afghanistan, you should not assume that you still have or will get a visa or will be permitted to enter the United States.”

That comment suggested that action may have already been taken against the ICC prosecutor who asked last year to formally open an investigation into allegations of war crimes committed by Afghan national security forces, Taliban and Haqqani network militants, as well as U.S. forces and intelligence officials in Afghanistan since May 2003.

The prosecution’s request says there is information that members of the U.S. military and intelligence agencies “committed acts of torture, cruel treatment, outrages upon personal dignity, rape and sexual violence against conflict-related detainees in Afghanistan and other locations, principally in the 2003-2004 period.”

The United States has never been a member of the ICC. The Clinton administration in 2000 signed the Rome Statute that created the ICC but had reservations about the scope of the court’s jurisdiction and never submitted it for ratification to the Senate, where there was broad bipartisan opposition to what lawmakers saw as a threat to U.S. sovereignty.

When President George W. Bush took office in 2001, his administration promoted and passed the American Service Members Protection Act, which sought to immunize U.S. troops from potential prosecution by the ICC. In 2002, Bolton, then a State Department official, traveled to New York to ceremonially “unsign” the Rome Statute at the United Nations.

This past September, Bolton said the ICC was a direct threat to U.S. national security interests and he threatened its personnel with both visa revocations and financial sanctions should it try to move against Americans. Pompeo said Friday that more measures may come.

The ICC said in a statement it was established by a treaty supported by 123 countries and that it prosecutes cases only when those countries failed to do so or did not do so “genuinely.” Afghanistan is a signatory.

“The court is an independent and impartial judicial institution crucial for ensuring accountability for the gravest crimes under international law,” the statement said. “The ICC, as a court of law, will continue to do its independent work, undeterred, in accordance with its mandate and the overarching principle of the rule of law.”

Supporters of the court slammed Pompeo’s announcement.

Human Rights Watch called it “a thuggish attempt to penalize investigators” at the ICC.

“The Trump administration is trying an end run around accountability,” it said. “Taking action against those who work for the ICC sends a clear message to torturers and murderers alike: Their crimes may continue unchecked.”

Amnesty International described the move as “the latest attack on international justice and international institutions by an administration hellbent on rolling back human rights protections.”

The American Civil Liberties Union, which represents three people before the ICC who say they were tortured in Afghanistan, called the decision “misguided and dangerous” and “an unprecedented attempt to skirt international accountability for well-documented war crimes that haunt our clients to this day.”

“It reeks of the very totalitarian practices that are characteristic of the worst human rights abusers, and is a blatant effort to intimidate and retaliate against judges, prosecutors, and advocates seeking justice for victims of serious human rights abuses,” it said.

___

Associated Press writer Mike Corder in Brussels contributed to this report.</s>(AP) — The United States will revoke or deny visas to International Criminal Court personnel who attempt to investigate or prosecute alleged abuses committed by U.S. forces in Afghanistan or elsewhere and may do the same with those who try to take action against Israel, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Friday.

Pompeo, making good on a threat delivered last September by national security adviser John Bolton, said the U.S. had already moved against some employees of The Hague-based court, but declined to say how many or what cases they may have been investigating.

“We are determined to protect the American and allied military and civilian personnel from living in fear of unjust prosecution for actions taken to defend our great nation,” Pompeo said.

He said any wrongdoing committed by American personnel would be dealt with in U.S. military and criminal courts.

The visa restrictions would apply to any court employee who takes or has taken action “to request or further such an investigation,” Pompeo said.

“These visa restrictions may also be used to deter ICC efforts to pursue allied personnel, including Israelis, without allies’ consent,” he said.

The ICC prosecutor has a pending request to look into possible war crimes in Afghanistan that may involve Americans. The Palestinians have also asked the court to bring cases against Israel.

Speaking directly to ICC employees, Pompeo said: “If you are responsible for the proposed ICC investigation of U.S. personnel in connection with the situation in Afghanistan, you should not assume that you still have or will get a visa or will be permitted to enter the United States.”

That comment suggested that action may have already been taken against the ICC prosecutor who asked last year to formally open an investigation into allegations of war crimes committed by Afghan national security forces, Taliban and Haqqani network militants, as well as U.S. forces and intelligence officials in Afghanistan since May 2003.

The United States has never been a member of the ICC. The Clinton administration in 2000 signed the Rome Statute that created the ICC but had reservations about the scope of the court’s jurisdiction and never submitted it for ratification to the Senate, where there was broad bipartisan opposition to what lawmakers saw as a threat to U.S. sovereignty.

When George W. Bush took office in 2001, his administration promoted and passed the American Service Members Protection Act, which sought to immunize U.S. troops from potential prosecution by the ICC. In 2002, Bolton, then a State Department official, traveled to New York to ceremonially “unsign” the Rome Statute at the United Nations.

In September, Bolton said the ICC was a direct threat to U.S. national security interests and threatened its personnel with both visa revocations and financial sanctions should it try to move against Americans. Pompeo said Friday that more measures may come.

“We are prepared to take additional steps, including economic sanctions, if the ICC does not change its course,” he said, adding: “The first and highest obligation of our government is to protect its citizens and this administration will carry out that duty.”

The ICC did not immediately respond to Pompeo’s announcement, but said last year it was “undeterred” by Bolton’s threat. At the time it noted that it had been established by a treaty supported by 123 countries and said it prosecutes cases only when those countries failed to do so or did not do so “genuinely.” Afghanistan is a signatory.

Supporters of the court, the first global tribunal for war crimes, slammed Pompeo’s announcement.

Human Rights Watch called it “a thuggish attempt to penalize investigators” at the International Criminal Court.

“The Trump administration is trying an end run around accountability,” it said. “Taking action against those who work for the ICC sends a clear message to torturers and murderers alike: Their crimes may continue unchecked.”

Since its creation, the court has filed charges against dozens of suspects including former Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi, who was killed by rebels before he could be arrested, and Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, who is accused of charges including genocide in Darfur. Al-Bashir remains at large, as does Ugandan warlord Joseph Kony, who was among the first rebels charged by the court in 2005. The court has convicted just eight defendants.

The court has been hobbled by the refusal of the U.S., Russia, China and other major nations to join. Others have quit, including Burundi and the Philippines.</s>WASHINGTON — The United States will revoke or deny visas to International Criminal Court personnel who try to investigate or prosecute alleged abuses committed by U.S. forces in Afghanistan or elsewhere, and may do the same with those who seeking action against Israel, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Friday.

The Hague-based court, the first global tribunal for war crimes, said it would continue to operate “undeterred” by the U.S. action.

Pompeo made good on a threat delivered last September by President Trump’s national security adviser, John Bolton. The U.S. had already moved against some employees of The Hague-based court, Pompeo said, but he declined to say how many or what cases they may have been investigating.

“We are determined to protect the American and allied military and civilian personnel from living in fear of unjust prosecution for actions taken to defend our great nation,” Pompeo said.

He said any wrongdoing committed by American personnel would be dealt with in U.S. military and criminal courts.

The visa restrictions would apply to any ICC employee who takes or has taken action “to request or further such an investigation,” Pompeo said.

“These visa restrictions may also be used to deter ICC efforts to pursue allied personnel, including Israelis, without allies’ consent,” he said.

The ICC prosecutor has a pending request to look into possible war crimes in Afghanistan that may involve Americans. The Palestinians have also asked the court to bring cases against Israel.

The court has been hobbled by refusal of the U.S., Russia, China and other major nations to join. Others have quit, including Burundi and the Philippines.

Matthew Lee is an Associated Press writer.</s>The United States will repeal or deny visas to International Criminal Court staff seeking to investigate Americans in Afghanistan or elsewhere and may take similar action to protect Israelis or other allied forces from prosecution, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Friday.

"We are determined to protect the American and allied military and civilian personnel from living in fear of unjust prosecution for actions taken to defend our great nation," Pompeo said.

The unprecedented move came amid a pending request by the ICC prosecutor's office to open a probe into possible war crimes by Afghan or U.S. personnel in Afghanistan and after national security adviser John Bolton, a vehement critic of the court, threatened punitive action in September.

The visa restrictions are "a part of the continued effort to convince the ICC to change course with its potential investigation and potential prosecution of Americans for their activities and our allies activities in Afghanistan," Pompeo told a press conference.

The secretary of state said the administration has already begun to carry out the visa restrictions but did not offer any more details.

Referring to court employees, Pompeo said that "you should know if you're responsible for the proposed ICC investigation of U.S. personnel in connection with the situation in Afghanistan you should not assume that you will still have or will get a visa or that you will be permitted to enter the United States."

Pompeo added that the administration was prepared to impose visa restrictions in other cases involving allies, including Israel. "These visa restrictions may also be used to deter ICC efforts to pursue allied personnel including Israelis without allies consent," he said.

The prosecutor for the ICC has a request pending to investigate possible war crimes in Afghanistan linked to Afghan and U.S. military and intelligence personnel, including at detention sites. A U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee report in 2014 concluded that interrogations of detainees after the 9/11 attacks in Afghanistan and elsewhere were "brutal and far worse than the CIA represented to policymakers and others."

Pompeo also said the U.S. was ready to increase the pressure on the ICC if necessary.

"These visa restrictions will not be the end of our efforts. We are prepared to take additional steps including economic sanctions if the ICC does not change its course," he said, without elaborating.

The International Criminal Court in The Hague said it was aware of the U.S. announcement.

"The ICC, as a court of law, will continue to do its independent work, undeterred, in accordance with its mandate and the overarching principle of the rule of law," ICC spokesman Fadi El Abdallah said in an email.

He added that the ICC is a court of last resort that exercises its jurisdiction only when governments do not meet their responsibility to investigate and prosecute atrocities.

The move represents "a thuggish attempt to penalize investigators at the International Criminal Court for doing their job - investigating war crimes," said Andrea Prasow, deputy Washington director at Human Rights Watch.

"The Trump administration is trying an end run around accountability. Taking action against those who work for the ICC sends a clear message to torturers and murderers alike: their crimes may continue unchecked," she said.

In September, after Bolton vowed to penalize the ICC if it did not abandon possible plans to investigate U.S. forces, the court said it would not be deterred by Washington's threat and would carry on its work.

The U.S. for decades promoted the idea of international criminal justice and was instrumental in establishing the Nuremberg trials after World War II, as well as more recent tribunals prosecuting war crimes in former Yugoslavia, Rwanda, Cambodia and elsewhere.

But Washington has never been a member of the ICC. In 2000, the Clinton administration signed the Rome statute that set up the court but never submitted it to the Senate for ratification as there was strong bipartisan opposition to allowing American troops to be prosecuted outside of the U.S.

Under George W. Bush's administration, Bolton, as a senior State Department official, led the effort to withdraw the United States from the statute for the ICC.

The Obama administration had a less hostile stance toward the court and lent some limited supportto the ICC's investigations, according to legal experts.

The ICC is the only permanent international criminal tribunal with a mandate to investigate and prosecute the crimes of genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and aggression.

There are currently 123 countries that have ratified the Rome Statute and are members of the ICC.</s>WASHINGTON – The Trump administration is barring International Criminal Court officials from entering the United States, a move intended to shield American military and intelligence personnel from an investigation into alleged torture in Afghanistan.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced the move Friday in response to a pending investigation – launched in 2017 by the international court's prosecutor Fatou Bensouda – into what she said were possible "war crimes" committed in Afghanistan.

"I’m announcing a policy of U.S. visa restrictions on those individuals directly responsible for any ICC investigation of U.S. personnel," Pompeo told reporters.

He declined to say how many would be blocked from coming to the U.S.. He also said visa confidentiality rules prohibited him from naming the people affected.

In response, the ICC said it would "continue to do its independent work, undeterred, in accordance with its mandate and the overarching principle of the rule of law."

Pompeo said the visa restrictions are intended to get the ICC to drop its probe and the administration is ready to ratchet up the pressure to achieve that outcome.

"We are prepared to take additional steps, including economic sanctions, if the ICC does not change course," he said.

He said the U.S. military system handles any wrongdoing by its personnel. "When U.S. service members fail to adhere to our strict code of military conduct, they are reprimanded, they’re court-martialed, and sentenced if that’s what’s deserved," he said.

The ICC has provided few details about the allegations. But the court prosecutor's office said it has "found a reasonable basis to believe that war crimes and crimes against humanity were and continue to be committed by members of Afghan and foreign government forces, and by anti-government forces such as the Taliban."

The ICC has long been controversial, with critics suggesting it's a threat to American sovereignty. Supporters say the Netherlands-based court offers recourse for victims of genocide and other war crimes in lawless countries.

It was first envisioned in 1998 by the Rome Treaty as a tribunal to prosecute genocide, war crimes and other crimes against humanity. The ICC calls itself “a court of last resort" that seeks to "complement, not replace" domestic judicial systems.

In a speech last year, Trump's national security adviser John Bolton blasted the court and said the administration would "use any means necessary to protect our citizens and those of our allies from unjust prosecution by this illegitimate court."

More: Afghan who risked his life for Iowa soldiers becomes US citizen

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Pompeo: State Dept. bars war crimes court members from the U.S., citing torture probe</s>The US has threatened to revoke visas for members of the International Criminal Court (ICC) at The Hague should they so much as investigate any criminal actions of American military personnel. The United States has never been a member of the ICC and considers it without authority over matters related to Americans or allies conducting joint operations.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo issued a scathing rebuke Friday following ICC statements that it would look into possible US war crimes in Afghanistan, and as pressures mount for the court to bring cases against Israel for human rights crimes against Palestinians. “We are determined to protect the American and allied military and civilian personnel from living in fear of unjust prosecution for actions taken to defend our great nation,” Pompeo said Friday.

Pompeo went to far as to specifically address ICC members and employees: “If you are responsible for the proposed ICC investigation of U.S. personnel in connection with the situation in Afghanistan, you should not assume that you still have or will get a visa or will be permitted to enter the United States,” he said.

Washington has long relied on defense of "US sovereignty" when the international court has received allegations of torture by American forces or allies, or other war crimes like "mistaken" coalition bombings of civilians attending wedding parties or funerals in Afghanistan.

The US position has been to say American courts and investigators can handle and prosecute if need be any allegations of US misconduct or war crimes, and has for years throughout the "global war on terror" viewed the Netherlands-based ICC with hostility.

During his Friday comments Pompeo said further the restrictions “may also be used to deter ICC efforts to pursue allied personnel, including Israelis, without the allies’ consent,” according to the AP.

He also warned about potential economic sanctions against member and host nations "if the ICC does not change its course."

The ICC, for its part, has vowed to continue to operate "undeterred" by any US actions, and articulated that the court "is needed to prosecute cases when a country fails to do so or does an insufficient job of it," as the AP reported.

Pompeo's words were also widely seen as a threat to the ICC prosecutor and personnel who last year formally requested of the court to open an investigation into war crimes allegations against US forces and intelligence, as well as allied Afghan national security forces, going all the way back to May 2003.

According to the AP:

Among the more shocking actions the US has taken to prevent any attempted prosecution of Americans by the ICC was the Bush administration's American Servicemembers Protection Act of 2002, popularly derided as the "Hague Invasion Act".

The law was designed to protect all US military and intelligence members on the basis that Washington could at anytime use force to liberate them from ICC incarceration.

Human Rights Watch described at the time of its being signed into law:

With such significant threats, the ICC's actions against Americans, Israelis or allied forces will likely only remain symbolic and designed to drive media attention and scrutiny of American actions overseas.

Meanwhile the pattern will remain of only third world, African, and Balkan warlords actually being brought to justice at the Hague, and never western officials.</s>March 15 (UPI) -- The Trump administration says it will deny entry to the United States to officials from the International Criminal Court because of its investigation of potential U.S. war crimes in Afghanistan.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo by law could not specifically name individuals who will be denied visa entry, but he said other restrictions could be added if the ICC persists in the investigation that began in 2017.

"I'm announcing a policy of U.S. visa restrictions on those individuals directly responsible for any ICC investigation of U.S. personnel," Pompeo said. "We are prepared to take additional steps, including economic sanctions, if the ICC does not change course."

Pompeo also did not specify how many people are barred from U.S. soil.

The ICC said in response it would continue its "independent work, undeterred, in accordance with its mandate and the overarching principle of the rule of law."

ICC prosecutor Fatou Bensouda announced the investigation two years ago and said it's looking for evidence of war crimes, like torture, that were committed by military personnel in Afghanistan since 2001. While she didn't target the U.S. military, Bensouda said the inquiry sought "support and cooperation" from the Afghan government, other state parties and the international community as a whole "to accomplish our objectives of ensuring accountability for the crimes committed and that the long-suffering victims of those crimes receive justice."

Pompeo's announcement about the visa bans comes days before he his expected to make a swing through the Middle East. The secretary of state will travel to Beirut, Jerusalem, and Kuwait City from March 19-23.

The trip to Jerusalem comes less than a month before national elections there where Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, a huge supporter of President Donald Trump and visa verse, will hand his party will be trying to maintain power in the midst of possible bribery indictments.

A State Department release said that Pompeo would meet with Israeli officials on countering Iran in the region and "reaffirming the United States' unwavering commitment to Israel's security" during the trip.</s>WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States will withdraw or deny visas to any International Criminal Court personnel investigating possible war crimes by U.S. forces or allies in Afghanistan, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Friday.

The court, which sits in The Hague, responded that it was an independent and impartial institution and would continue to do its work “undeterred” by Washington’s actions.

The Trump administration threatened in September to ban ICC judges and prosecutors from entering the United States and sanction funds they have there if the court launched a probe of war crimes in Afghanistan.

Washington took the first step on Friday with Pompeo’s announcement.

“I’m announcing a policy of U.S. visa restrictions on those individuals directly responsible for any ICC investigation of U.S. personnel,” Pompeo told a news conference in Washington.

“These visa restrictions may also be used to deter ICC efforts to pursue allied personnel, including Israelis, without allies’ consent.”

Pompeo said the policy was already being implemented but would not elaborate, citing visa privacy laws.

“These visa restrictions will not be the end of our efforts,” he said. “We’re prepared to take additional steps, including economic sanctions, if the ICC does not change its course.”

Human Rights Watch called the announcement a “thuggish attempt to penalise investigators” at the court.

“Taking action against those who work for the ICC sends a clear message to torturers and murderers alike: Their crimes may continue unchecked,” the group’s Washington director, Andrea Prasow, said, calling on U.S. lawmakers to express support for the court.

In November 2017, the ICC prosecutor requested authorization from judges to initiate an investigation into alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in Afghanistan since May 1, 2003, including in states where the CIA held prisoners.

Judges are reviewing all material submitted by the prosecutor, and must decide whether or not to authorise an investigation.

With 123 member states, including the entire European Union, the ICC was established in 2002 to prosecute war crimes, genocide or crimes against humanity when a country is unable or unwilling to prosecute perpetrators. Major powers, including the United States, China and Russia, are not members.

A State Department official said the United States would allow court officials to travel for meetings to the United Nations headquarters in New York.

“Under these measures, we will not interfere with travel to the U.N. for official U.N. purposes,” the official said. The ICC is not part of the United Nations.</s>The United States will not issue visas to staff of the International Criminal Court involved in the investigations of abuses allegedly committed by U.S. troops in Afghanistan, or investigations of troops of allies such as Israel, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Friday.

Pompeo said the United States has started restrictions on visas to ICC employees amid a pending request that the tribunal investigate potential war crimes in Afghanistan in which Americans may have been involved. The Palestinian Authority also has asked the court to investigate alleged Israeli crimes in the West Bank and Gaza.

“We are determined to protect the American and allied military and civilian personnel from living in fear of unjust prosecution for actions taken to defend our great nation,” Pompeo said. “We feared that the court could eventually pursue politically motivated prosecutions of Americans,” he said, saying the fears were borne out in 2017 when the ICC prosecutor requested approval to start investigating “the situation in Afghanistan.”

Pompeo declined to say how many ICC-related visas have been denied or name any officials affected. But he said the restrictions apply to anyone working for the court who requests or furthers an investigation into acts by the United States or its allies.

An exemption to the new restrictions can be made for ICC employees traveling on official business to the United Nations in New York.

The ICC, based in The Hague, was created in 2002 to investigate and prosecute war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide in territories where the perpetrators are unlikely to be tried.

The United States is not a member of the ICC, even though the Clinton administration signed a statue creating the body. Many in Congress believed it would infringe on U.S. sovereignty, and it was never submitted for the Senate to ratify. More than 100 countries recognize its jurisdiction, but another 23, including the United States, never ratified it.

Administration officials have been threatening for some time to ban ICC judges and prosecutors from visiting the United States, sanction their assets and prosecute them in U.S. courts.

In September, in a speech delivered on the eve of the anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, national security adviser John Bolton denounced the ICC’s legitimacy and called it a threat to national security.

“We will not cooperate with the ICC,” he said, adding that “for all intents and purposes, the ICC is already dead to us.”

In December, Pompeo dismissed the ICC as a “rogue court,” and accused it of “trampling on our sovereignty . . . and all of our freedoms.”

“We will take all necessary steps to protect our people, those of our NATO allies who fight alongside of us inside of Afghanistan from unjust prosecution,” he said in a speech in Brussels. “Because we know that if it can happen to our people, it can happen to yours, too.”</s>Human rights defenders expressed outrage on Friday after Secretary of State Mike Pompeo revealed that the Trump administration is revoking or denying visas for any International Criminal Court (ICC) personnel who try to investigate or prosecute U.S. officials or key allies for potential war crimes.

"This is an unprecedented attempt to skirt international accountability for well-documented war crimes that haunt our clients to this day."

—Jamil Dakwar, ACLU

The move, Pompeo confirmed to reporters Friday morning, is a direct response to ongoing efforts by the ICC to probe allegations of war crimes and crimes against humanity tied to the seemingly endless war in Afghanistan.

Jamil Dakwar, director of the ACLU's Human Rights Program, was among those who spoke out against the decision. The ACLU currently represents Khaled El Masri, Suleiman Salim, and Mohamed Ben Soud, who were all detained and tortured in Afghanistan between 2003 and 2008.

"This is an unprecedented attempt to skirt international accountability for well-documented war crimes that haunt our clients to this day," Dakwar said. "It reeks of the very totalitarian practices that are characteristic of the worst human rights abusers, and is a blatant effort to intimidate and retaliate against judges, prosecutors, and advocates seeking justice for victims of serious human rights abuses."

Richard Dicker, international justice director at Human Rights Watch, called it "an outrageous effort to bully the court and deter scrutiny of U.S. conduct." He encouraged ICC member countries to "publicly make clear that they will remain undaunted in their support for the ICC and will not tolerate U.S. obstruction."

Daniel Balson, advocacy director at Amnesty International USA, noted that this is just "the latest attack on international justice and international institutions by an administration hellbent on rolling back human rights protections."

Visa bans, as Balson pointed out, are "powerful tools typically reserved for the most serious of human rights abusers."

But rather than targeting global criminals, the Trump administration has set its sights on the ICC—an impartial judicial body that aims to promote accountability under international law by probing and prosecuting crimes of aggression, crimes against humanity, war crimes, and genocide.

"Throwing roadblocks in front of the ICC's investigation undermines justice not only for abuses committed in Afghanistan, but also for the millions of victims and survivors throughout the world who have experienced the most serious crimes under international law."

—Daniel Balson, Amnesty International USA

The move is "is highly indicative of [the administration's] culture of disregard for rights abuses," said Balson. "Throwing roadblocks in front of the ICC's investigation undermines justice not only for abuses committed in Afghanistan, but also for the millions of victims and survivors throughout the world who have experienced the most serious crimes under international law."

Pompeo's announcement came after John Bolton, President Donald Trump's national security adviser and a longtime critic of the ICC, threatened to impose sanctions on court officials in September if they continued to pursue an investigation of potential crimes by U.S. civilians or military personnel in Afghanistan.

Echoing Bolton's broader denunciations of the ICC last year, Pompeo on Friday highlighted that the United States—under both Democratic and Republican presidents—has refused to join the court for more than two decades "because of its broad, unaccountable prosecutorial powers and the threat it poses to American national sovereignty."

Warning that "the court could eventually pursue politically motivated prosecutions of Americans," the secretary of state told reporters that the Trump administration is "determined to protect the American and allied military and civilian personnel from living in fear of unjust prosecution for actions taken to defend our great nation."

"These visa restrictions may also be used to deter ICC efforts to pursue allied personnel, including Israelis, without allies' consent," Pompeo added. "Implementation of this policy has already begun."

Watch Pompeo's full remarks to the media on Friday:
United States Secretary of State Mike Pompeo bars the entry of International Criminal Court investigators into the United States as part of the ICC's investigation into possible war crimes committed by the United States military in Afghanistan.