Dakar has denounced new United States sanctions on a Senegalese ICC prosecutor and three others at the International Criminal Court, made in connection with arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former defence minister.
The United States announced new sanctions against two judges and two prosecutors from the International Criminal Court (ICC) on Wednesday, over efforts to prosecute US and Israeli citizens.
Senegalese deputy prosecutor Mame Mandiaye Niang was among the four sanctioned. The others include French Judge Nicolas Guillou, who is presiding over a case in which an arrest warrant was issued for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu; Canadian judge Kimberly Prost, and deputy prosecutor Nazhat Shameem Khan of Fiji.
"Senegal calls on the American authorities to lift these sanctions, which constitute a serious violation of the principle of judicial independence," Senegal's Foreign Ministry said in a statement posted on social media.
The US State Department said the two deputy prosecutors were being punished for supporting "illegitimate ICC actions against Israel", including by supporting arrest warrants against Netanyahu and former Israeli defence minister, Yoav Gallant.
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'Full solidarity'
The Senegalese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement that it learned "with surprise of the US sanctions against four ICC magistrates".
The ministry expressed its "full solidarity" with Niang, saying the sanctions violate ICC members' rights to "freely and peacefully exercise the mandate entrusted to them".
The country's authorities "call on the American authorities to withdraw these sanctions, which constitute a serious attack on the principle of the independence of justice," said a press release from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Senegalese Prime Minister Ousmane Sonko posted on social media on Thursday that the "government of Senegal will... confront these unjust and unfounded measures by the United States of America".
More broadly, the statement from the Foreign Affairs Ministry reaffirmed Senegal's "unwavering support for the ICC in its mission to serve international criminal justice".
It also called for "solidarity" from other countries backing the ICC, urging them to "redouble their efforts to ensure that the judges and all staff of the Court can carry out their mission in complete independence, without threats or restrictions".
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio previously imposed sanctions on four other ICC judges in June. In February, the US sanctioned chief prosecutor Karim Khan, who was responsible for the request that led the ICC to issue arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant.
The US and Israel have never joined the ICC, which is backed by the majority of Western democracies.
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'The wrath of the US'
For Maître Drissa Traoré, secretary-general of the International Federation for Human Rights, the situation concerning the ICC is getting worse, "all the more so since the American president now feels invested with greater power and presents himself as both the great peacemaker and one who only respects his own wishes," he told RFI.
This is affecting the court's funding and ability to function, according to him.
"The proceedings before the ICC are progressing more slowly," Traoré said, "but above all, all the organisations and individuals, the NGOs that help the proceedings and investigations on the ground to run smoothly, must be very careful not to incur the wrath of the United States."
He believes the US also makes use of the ICC according to its own political positions.
"We remember that the United States previously supported the work of the Court, with regard to Darfur and Libya, for instance," he said. "Today, its interests, both political and strategic, are no longer the same, and the United States with President Trump opposes the Court being able to do its work in Afghanistan and particularly in Palestine."
He believes the recent controversy has given African nations a new appreciation of the scope of the ICC's work.
"We no longer hear that the ICC is there only for Africans and those who do not have power", he said. "We realise today that the ICC is truly a court that is called upon to work across the entire Earth and to address all serious human rights violations."
