U.S. imposes visa bans on International Criminal Court investigators - Pompeo

By Lesley Wroughton

 

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo speaks during a news conference at the State Department in Washington, U.S., March 15, 2019. REUTERS/Yuri Gripas

 

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.

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2019-03-16

Maybe the US shouldn't send their soldiers to the rest of the world. Then they wouldn't be able to behave like bad Americans while they are in other peoples counties. Go home and stay home - problem solved.

 

Just now, OneMoreFarang said:

Maybe the US shouldn't send their soldiers to the rest of the world. Then they wouldn't be able to behave like bad Americans while they are in other peoples counties. Go home and stay home - problem solved.

 

As it was AFGHANISTAN. Yes you betcha, The US is going to send soldiers, bombers cruise missiles and AC 130 gunships,   Drones, Hellfire missiles, the usual. 

 

Try Iraq next time you make that argument     It works there.

 

 

Poor old U.S. of A. Being seen for what it really is, losing its importance as a legal and moral upholder of peoples rights, no longer democratic and slipping further away from the majority who uphold the idea of world justice. How long before they attain a position similar to how they now view Iran. A comment made on this subject, included in an international newspaper added this;

James Goldston, the executive director of the Open Society Justice Initiative, said Pompeo’s remarks reflected the administration’s view that international law matters “only when it is aligned with US national interests”. 

Which pretty much agrees with all Naom Chomsky has been saying for years. A criminal state.

The ICC's member countries should simply retaliate in kind, and no longer cooperate with US investigative institutions. 

Good job Mike. We have our own laws to punish misconduct and dont need to play the politics game.

 

1 hour ago, Lungstib said:

A criminal state.

Yep. The big old bad USA. I love it. God Bless America and our people and screw the rest of the world unless they fall in line.

 

I love it when folks call us a Bully.  Yep. This isnt the Playground. Get in line now.

 

1 hour ago, Lungstib said:

Poor old U.S. of A. Being seen for what it really is, losing its importance as a legal and moral upholder of peoples rights, no longer democratic and slipping further away from the majority who uphold the idea of world justice. How long before they attain a position similar to how they now view Iran. A comment made on this subject, included in an international newspaper added this;

James Goldston, the executive director of the Open Society Justice Initiative, said Pompeo’s remarks reflected the administration’s view that international law matters “only when it is aligned with US national interests”. 

Which pretty much agrees with all Naom Chomsky has been saying for years. A criminal state.

Probably the greatest accomplishment of the Trump administration in terms of Foreign Policy thus far has been the refreshing honesty. As you point out, the practical reality has always been the same and that is going all the way back to Nuremberg, which was a total Kangaroo Show Trial for the victors. What Trump is doing is getting rid of the hypocrisy, which is incredibly refreshing and extremely helpful in the long term. He's ridding us of the hypocrisy of the ICC, the hypocrisy of NATO, and the hypocrisy in foreing trade deals. There have actually been a number of panicked articles from the Globalists in certain high brow magazines in the US. They recognize what a powerful weapon hypocrisy has been for their cause over the years and are worried Trump's honesty is going to ruin things for them. 

How the mighty have fallen, from a country that was trusted to a country... now its like Russia and China.

 

So many lies from the US like Saddam and his weapons, and people still believe the US does not cover things up ? The US like all other countries covers stuff up and by not allowing a 3rd party to look at it drops down to the level of China and Russia. That is fine with me IMHO the credibility is gone anyway especially with Thrump in power. 

 

Let them do this, no problem, but they cant hold the moral high ground anymore.

Edited March 16, 20197 yr by robblok

8 minutes ago, Nyezhov said:

Good job Mike. We have our own laws to punish misconduct and dont need to play the politics game.

 

Yep. The big old bad USA. I love it. God Bless America and our people and screw the rest of the world unless they fall in line.

 

I love it when folks call us a Bully.  Yep. This isnt the Playground. Get in line now.

 

How's that been working out? Remember how Trump was going to push Canada and Mexico into making big changes to Nafta? He couldn't even coerce them. The US couldn't have defeated Isis without the assistance of Iran. The days of the USA as uber troll are long gone.

2 minutes ago, bristolboy said:

How's that been working out? Remember how Trump was going to push Canada and Mexico into making big changes to Nafta? He couldn't even coerce them. The US couldn't have defeated Isis without the assistance of Iran. The days of the USA as uber troll are long gone.

Trump did get a new treaty with Canada and Mexico. USMC it is called, and it replaces NAFTA. Canada was playing hardball at first, but Mexico needed the deal and so Trump smartly negotiated a bilateral agreement with them first, threatening to cut Canada out completely. This forced Justin to sign on to a new deal or be left in the cold. 

 

And as far as Iran goes, good for them. Trump has actually praised Iran and Russia at various points in the war for their assistance. It is the Neocons that have the bug up their ass about Iran and Russia. Most Trump supporters are happy to see Russia and Iran doing the bulk of God's work in Syria. We have enough on our plate. 

1 minute ago, usviphotography said:

Trump did get a new treaty with Canada and Mexico. USMC it is called, and it replaces NAFTA. Canada was playing hardball at first, but Mexico needed the deal and so Trump smartly negotiated a bilateral agreement with them first, threatening to cut Canada out completely. This forced Justin to sign on to a new deal or be left in the cold. 

 

And as far as Iran goes, good for them. Trump has actually praised Iran and Russia at various points in the war for their assistance. It is the Neocons that have the bug up their ass about Iran and Russia. Most Trump supporters are happy to see Russia and Iran doing the bulk of God's work in Syria. We have enough on our plate. 

ANd the changes are minor. What's more it hasn't yet been approved by Congress. As for Trudeau being forced to sign a new deal, Trump actually completely surrendered up on most of his demands. Even right wing Canadians. who hate Trudeau, gave him, or at least his administration for staring down Trump. And what did Trump get from Mexico? A promise to increase content made by workers earning high wages. But that only works if auto companies decide it makes economic sense. It might actually reduce total auto production. It looks more like Trump backed down to protect American producers of corn and pork.

 

And what planet do you come from? Trump has praised Iran? Really? To anyone it's clear that the exact opposite is the case. Stop making things up.

Even the rabidly anti-Trump BBC was forced to acknowledge his victory in the USMCA:  https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-45674261

 

And as for Iran, yes, Trump has praised them on more than one occasion on Twitter with regards to their help in Syria (they were also incredibly helpful to the US in fighting ISIS in Iraq and liberating Mosul). Just this past December he said Iran can do "anything they want" in Syria as far as he is concerned. Trump supporters are quite happy with what Iran did in Syria and are obviously quite pleased with Russia. It is the Never Trump Faction (which dominates the GOP and the President's own Administration) who are the ones with the bug up their bum about Iran. 

8 minutes ago, usviphotography said:

Even the rabidly anti-Trump BBC was forced to acknowledge his victory in the USMCA:  https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-45674261

 

And as for Iran, yes, Trump has praised them on more than one occasion on Twitter with regards to their help in Syria (they were also incredibly helpful to the US in fighting ISIS in Iraq and liberating Mosul). Just this past December he said Iran can do "anything they want" in Syria as far as he is concerned. Trump supporters are quite happy with what Iran did in Syria and are obviously quite pleased with Russia. It is the Never Trump Faction (which dominates the GOP and the President's own Administration) who are the ones with the bug up their bum about Iran. 

Goodness me..

 

J.Edgar Burroughs meets the Martians for the first time..

 

Or as the Martians said "Are you a complete nut John Carter?"

1 hour ago, usviphotography said:

and are worried Trump's honesty is going to ruin things for them. 

Well, there you are, a man in 10 million, someone who has the creativity to announce Trump honest. Anyone with that amount of comic humour belongs on stage. If you seriously consider Trump honest then there is obviously no point in further discussion.

33 minutes ago, Lungstib said:

Well, there you are, a man in 10 million, someone who has the creativity to announce Trump honest. Anyone with that amount of comic humour belongs on stage. If you seriously consider Trump honest then there is obviously no point in further discussion.

Reading comprehension is your friend. Trump is a salesman and frequently exaggerates or stretches the truth as salesmen are prone to do, but in terms of foreign policy, he's been the most honest President of our lifetime and that is freaking the Globalists/Military Industrial Complex out as seen in this article from the Amazon Post:  https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2018/11/05/hypocrisy-is-useful-tool-foreign-affairs-trump-is-too-crude-play-game/

Edited March 16, 20197 yr by usviphotography

1 hour ago, bristolboy said:

ANd the changes are minor.

That is true, but nonetheless significant. It was an anti China construct from the start and at that it made headway.

2 hours ago, usviphotography said:

Trump did get a new treaty with Canada and Mexico. USMC it is called, and it replaces NAFTA. Canada was playing hardball at first, but Mexico needed the deal and so Trump smartly negotiated a bilateral agreement with them first, threatening to cut Canada out completely. This forced Justin to sign on to a new deal or be left in the cold. 

 

And as far as Iran goes, good for them. Trump has actually praised Iran and Russia at various points in the war for their assistance. It is the Neocons that have the bug up their ass about Iran and Russia. Most Trump supporters are happy to see Russia and Iran doing the bulk of God's work in Syria. We have enough on our plate. 

You make up alternative facts just like trump. NAFTA is still in effect as neither Canada or Mexico have ratified it. The new deal is no more than what Canada wanted. It was updated to reflect new ways of doing business such as Amazon, cross border sales, etc. almost everything remained the same. He didn’t make Canada back down on their main point of having a dispute system. You need only to google nafta changes and you can get the real facts, not trumps alternative facts.

As for Iran and Syria yes it good to see them doing the bulk of Allah’s work. At least they can win a war.

Have a look at the Kellog-Briand Pact, of which the U.S. is a signatory. The country, the government and the soldiers have been committing war crimes for decades.

2 hours ago, Nyezhov said:

Good job Mike. We have our own laws to punish misconduct and dont need to play the politics game.

 

Very well said, except for the fact that....

 

5 hours ago, rooster59 said:

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.

Ergo, if your statement is true, and the USA has its own laws to punish international criminals, then ICC interference is not required

 

but.... as the ICC investigators seem to be interested in alleged American international criminals, then your obviously not living up to any reasonable standard of investigation or prosecution of your own people....  so this statement below, rings true, if the “torturers and murderers” are American citizens

 

5 hours ago, rooster59 said:

Taking action against those who work for the ICC sends a clear message to torturers and murderers alike: Their crimes may continue unchecked,"

So... given that your take seems to be that American citizens should be excused for crimes against humanity etc , the rest of your post makes sense.... “do as we say, not as we do.... or else” seems to be the theme

 

2 hours ago, Nyezhov said:

Yep. The big old bad USA. I love it. God Bless America and our people and screw the rest of the world unless they fall in line.

 

I love it when folks call us a Bully.  Yep. This isnt the Playground. Get in line now.

But..... you also have to understand that the growing negativity towards those United States of America, is a product of the policies ( see... fairness there) of your potus, so when all the US haters “get in line now” (like in the playground, funnily enough) yall should not be surprised by the length of that line, or the tools it employs to rebuff buffoonery and thuggery.

 

that all said, the next presidents inaugural year will probably be wasted overturning everything trump, and attempting to repair its tattered reputation as a world leader, or more likely, return it to a position of a world leader which participates responsibly and fairly in world affairs

 

meanwhile... as long as the psychopaths stay within US borders, the rest of the world will be better. If they leave, grab em at the airport, much like the Huweii CFO

Covering up war crimes. This miserable excuse for a human being has a fine moral compass doesn't he? And his job is lecturing non threatening enemies about their human rights record. He gets the hypocrite of the year award.

3 hours ago, Nyezhov said:

Good job Mike. We have our own laws to punish misconduct and dont need to play the politics game.

 

Yep. The big old bad USA. I love it. God Bless America and our people and screw the rest of the world unless they fall in line.

 

I love it when folks call us a Bully.  Yep. This isnt the Playground. Get in line now.

 

What a dismal attitude. You and Fat Mike make a great pair.

2 minutes ago, Pedrogaz said:

What a dismal attitude. You and Fat Mike make a great pair.

Yep. Patriots.

 

8 minutes ago, farcanell said:

But..... you also have to understand that the growing negativity towards those United States of America, is a product of the policies ( see... fairness there) of your potus, so when all the US haters “get in line now” (like in the playground, funnily enough) yall should not be surprised by the length of that line, or the tools it employs to rebuff buffoonery and thuggery.

I dont think many people outside the echo chamber care anymore what other countries think of us or Trump.

 

9 minutes ago, farcanell said:

that all said, the next presidents inaugural year will probably be wasted overturning everything trump, and attempting to repair its tattered reputation as a world leader, or more likely, return it to a position of a world leader which participates responsibly and fairly in world affairs

Another one in for a cry session when he is reelected.

 

1 hour ago, usviphotography said:

Reading comprehension is your friend. Trump is a salesman and frequently exaggerates or stretches the truth as salesmen are prone to do, but in terms of foreign policy, he's been the most honest President of our lifetime and that is freaking the Globalists/Military Industrial Complex out as seen in this article from the Amazon Post:  https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2018/11/05/hypocrisy-is-useful-tool-foreign-affairs-trump-is-too-crude-play-game/

Detail and the devil... he’s usually there, and in your link, the devil is in the last paragraph, whereby there is this acknowledgment that trump is degrading American influence, which cannot be good for America, no matter how many times the chant “make America great again!” Is repeated.

 

one cannot help but wonder if future generations will look back at this presidency and say “this was the change that led to the downfall of the American empire”.

 

reading comprehension... lol... ????

 

The decay of America’s capacity to act hypocritically hurts American influence. The United States will find it hard to persuade its allies to help implement costly sanctions against “rogue states” such as Iran as long as it protects rogues such as Saudi Arabia that openly violate civilized norms — and as long as leakers reveal our hypocrisy in nearly real time.

Past U.S. hypocrisy provided cover for many abuses. However, the abandonment of hypocrisy in favor of crude self-interest threatens to be worse.

Edited March 16, 20197 yr by farcanell

Just now, farcanell said:

Detail and the devil... he’s usually there, and in your link, the devil is in the last paragraph, whereby there is this acknowledgment that trump is degrading American influence

Everybody knows what "American" Influence means to a Neocon, and I can assure you it has nothing to do with the interests of America or actual Americans. Hopefully the Trump Administration will be remembered as a turning point, when the wretched influence of these monsters began to wane, not just in America but the UK all the other places they have infested as well. But we should not kid ourselves. Their influence over Western Government's is almost God-like, and it will take more than just 8 years of the terribly competent Trump to take them down. This must be merely the first step in something far greater if we hope to win in the long term. 

26 minutes ago, Nyezhov said:

Yep. Patriots.

 

I dont think many people outside the echo chamber care anymore what other countries think of us or Trump.

 

Another one in for a cry session when he is reelected.

Where I said “next president”, I meant not this president (lol... or don jr)... I thought that rather obvious in saying trumpisms would be overturned.

 

if trump does win 2020, I will be laughing, not crying.... but it won’t be laughing with you

 

curious that you think the average American is too “something” to be engaged in world affairs.... but no worries, ignorance is supposed to be bliss... enjoy that bliss... bless

1 hour ago, usviphotography said:

Reading comprehension is your friend. Trump is a salesman and frequently exaggerates or stretches the truth as salesmen are prone to do, but in terms of foreign policy, he's been the most honest President of our lifetime and that is freaking the Globalists/Military Industrial Complex out as seen in this article from the Amazon Post:  https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2018/11/05/hypocrisy-is-useful-tool-foreign-affairs-trump-is-too-crude-play-game/

Did you read the link? It is not at all complementary for trump, quite the opposite.

Edited March 16, 20197 yr by simple1

7 minutes ago, usviphotography said:

Everybody knows what "American" Influence means to a Neocon, and I can assure you it has nothing to do with the interests of America or actual Americans. Hopefully the Trump Administration will be remembered as a turning point, when the wretched influence of these monsters began to wane, not just in America but the UK all the other places they have infested as well. But we should not kid ourselves. Their influence over Western Government's is almost God-like, and it will take more than just 8 years of the terribly competent Trump to take them down. This must be merely the first step in something far greater if we hope to win in the long term. 

What does American influence mean to neocons?

which monsters are you referencing?

whos influence over western government?

what do you hope to win?

 

i know... it’s probably just me, but.... what?

18 minutes ago, farcanell said:

 

 

curious that you think the average American is too “something” to be engaged in world affairs.... but no worries, ignorance is supposed to be bliss... enjoy that bliss... bless

No dude, we are engaged. We are just tired of countries taking our handouts then spitting in our faces, being criticized about Human Rights in the UN by countries that by any stretch of the imagination are sh*tholes where folks have no rights, we are tired if being accused of war crimes by folks in countries whos daddies sent folks to death camps, we are tired of spending all our money to defend a bunch of ungrateful deadbeat countries and we would like to give a great big <deleted> to the world. If we need to overthrow a crap government to get more oil, go for it. If you are a two bit dictator in a country and its in our interests to get rid of you, we will. What is the world going to do about it? Sanction us? The UN is luck we let them have such valuable real estate. Hopefully, by Trumps next term, as we are holding out the checkbook its going to be yes, Uncle Sam how may I serve.

 

The Chinese do it, nobody complains about them. And remember, the choices you  make today determine whether you will be speaking Madarin or English in 2100. Hey world, pick a side and keep your mouths shut, if we want your advice we will ask. War is hell, aint it?

wondering what these icc clowns would have been told , if they would have tried to enter russia, china or iran for the same reason.

 

wbr

roobaa01