ICC rejects investigation on war crimes in Afghanistan
The International Criminal Court turned down on Friday a request to open a war crimes probe in Afghanistan, with the United States hailing a victory for its strong-armed tactic of revoking the chief prosecutor's visa.
The decision "is insane and politically charged", Karine Bonneau, director of worldwide justice at the global Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), said in a tweet.
The statement comes after the International Criminal Court said in a statement earlier in the day, that it made a decision to decline the request of Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda to launch an inquiry into allegations of war crimes perpetrated by U.S. forces in Afghanistan.
The US "holds American citizens to the highest legal and ethical standards", and has consistently refused to join the ICC because of its "broad, unaccountable prosecutorial powers", threats to US sovereignty, and "and other deficiencies that render it illegitimate", Trump said in a statement.
Angered, President Donald Trump's administration said it would deny visas to any ICC members involved in probing USA troops and, last week, it revoked the visa of the Gambian-born Bensouda.
ICC prosecutors in 2006 opened a preliminary investigation into war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in Afghanistan since 2003.
Eugene Kontorovich, a fellow at the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, told the Washington Free Beacon that the decision was "very surprising", and an indication of the success of President Donald Trump's administration's efforts in opposing partisan courts like the ICC.
The United States revoked Bensouda's entry visa earlier this month, after U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in March that Washington would withdraw or deny visas to any ICC staff investigating possible war crimes by U.S. forces or allies in Afghanistan.
"In the foreseeable absence of additional resources for the coming years in the court's budget, authorising the investigation would result in the prosecution having to reallocate financial and human resources", the judges said.
A panel of judges at the International Criminal Court has rejected a request to proceed with investigating possible war crimes and crimes against humanity in Afghanistan, including those allegedly involving USA armed forces and the Central Intelligence Agency.
ICC prosecutors said in 2015 they had evidence suggesting worldwide forces in Afghanistan had caused serious harm to detainees by subjecting them to physical and psychological abuse.
Human Rights Watch slammed the ruling, calling it "a devastating blow for victims who have suffered grave crimes without redress".
Asked if the thought the ICC should have authority to prosecute Sudan's Omar al Bash - who has been indicated by the court - for genocide, Bolton replied plainly: "It's the position of the United States that the court is illegitimate".
"It is outrageous that victims of war crimes are far less likely to get justice for well-documented atrocities because of the Trump administration's authoritarian efforts to sabotage an investigation before it even started", said Jamil Dakwar, director of the group's human rights programme.
While Washington has pushed for the creation of ad-hoc worldwide tribunals for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) and Rwanda (ICTR), the United States voted against the establishment of the ICC in 1998, and has refused to join or submit to its authority after the court was officially created in 2002. "When Americans violate their training and doctrine, whether they're in the military or intelligence community, as a democratic constitutional society we are capable of holding our own citizens accountable", Bolton said.
Trump order Could make it harder to block pipelines
Trump Embarrasses Himself During Mount Vernon Tour
Mobile Rebrands Layer3 to TVision, Launches in 8 New Cities
Google Assistant now works with your G Suite work calendar
Priyanka Chopra didn't think relationship with Nick Jonas would last
Chris Hemsworth & Scarlett Johansson Hit the Town in London!
Here's When You Can Get A Free Measles Vaccine In Westchester
Tesla's $35,000 Model 3 just got even harder to buy
All You Should to Know about Cisco CCNP Certification
Top 10 Gambling Nations Ever
Baby sleeper linked to 32 infant deaths, parents warned
A warning issued Friday by the commission and Fisher-Price cited reports of 10 infant deaths since 2015. They say stores should remove the rocker from their shelves.
Chevron To Buy Anadarko In $33B Deal
The boards of both companies have approved the transaction, and the deal is supposed to close in the second half of this year. Anadarko shareholders will receive 0.3869 shares of Chevron and $16.25 in cash for each share they own, or $65 per share.
Is Ariana Grande plotting a new beauty launch?
The 25-year-old singer is now on the road, as her 80 date Sweetener world tour got underway last month. The trademark was filed by GrandAri Inc., which owns her fragrance line.
Masters 2019: Zach Johnson hilariously hits ball on a warmup swing
Johnson had fun with the incident, giving people on the tee box permission to laugh because, as he said, "That's embarrassing". He was able to re-tee the ball and then striped his tee shot-his actual tee shot-right down the center.
Redmi working on a smartphone with 32 MP selfie camera?
While specific details about this new handset are scarce, indications are that the company could launch this device the Redmi Y3. As a successor to last year's selfie-centric Redmi Y2 , Xiaomi is expected to launch Redmi Y3 in India soon.
Nvidia driver 425.31 enables DXR on GeForce GTX 1060 and better
On the other hand, the GTX Pascal and Turing products, fall back to DXR's software layer to perform real-time ray tracing. So you probably won't see significantly different results if you're running, say, a Core i7-9700K instead of a Core i9.
'Captain Cool' Dhoni fined for confronting IPL umpires
On the fourth delivery of the over, Ulhas Gandhe signaled a no ball which seemed to be a clear waist-high no ball to Santner. The controversy overshadowed Dhoni's achievement of registering his 100th win as IPL captain.
Barr to testify before Senate as Mueller report looms
The Department of Justice offered Mueller to review the March 24 letter, but the special counsel declined, according to Barr. This is his first public appearance since releasing his four page summary of the Mueller report.
How to Do Internet Payments Fast and Safe?
The "secret" of blockchains is that they store data on thousands of computer at the same time and heavily encrypt it. Yes, they are securer than any e-wallet services out there because they completely eliminate the need for "humans".
Koepka, DeChambeau get hot, tied atop Masters
Swiss government wants to get rid of its coffee emergency stockpile
Twitter feels South Africa speedster Dale Steyn is joining RCB team
Lakers fire Luke Walton; Tyronn Lue frontrunner for job
Wells Fargo shares fall as bank cuts forecast for interest income
'Trivago' pitchman passed out in a car in traffic
Google launches new cloud platform, Anthos
Fed still 'patient' on rates, mulling balance sheet policy: minutes
This is Ariana Grande's brain on PTSD. 'Not a joke,' she says
Woman crashes vehicle after spotting spider in driver's area
Trump says he considered his daughter Ivanka to lead the World Bank
Декабря 03, 2018
Stay Ahead of Your Career with the CSM Course
Represent of the third generation of antibiotics – Suprax Cefixime
How to choose an app development company: here's what you need to know
Января 22, 2018
Top 10 Cannabis Pipes