(MENAFN- The Post) MASERU -THE United States has lifted sanctions against a Mosotho national, Phakiso Mochochoko, and Fatou Bensouda who are top officials of the International Criminal Court (ICC).
Mochochoko is the Head of Jurisdiction, Complementary and Cooperation Division at the ICC while Bensouda is the chief prosecutor.
In a statement last week, the United States announced it was revoking its Executive Order 13928 on 'Blocking Property of Certain Persons Associated with the International Criminal Court'.
The US Secretary of State, Antony J Blinken, said 'this will end the threat and imposition of economic sanctions and visa restrictions in connection with the Court'.
The sanctions were imposed under the Donald Trump administration.
The Department of State also terminated the separate 2019 policy on visa restrictions on certain ICC personnel.
These decisions reflect their assessment that the 'measures adopted were inappropriate and ineffective'.
Bensouda had angered the Trump administration by opening an investigation into crimes allegedly committed by US soldiers in Afghanistan.
She was also probing war crimes that she said she was convinced 'have been or are being committed in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip' committed by Israeli soldiers.
The Trump administration had said in a statement that it would hit back at any institution or anybody who was helping her.
In last week's statement, Blinken, who replaced Mike Pompeo as Secretary of State, said the US however continues 'to disagree strongly with the ICC's actions relating to the Afghanistan and Palestinian situations'.
Blinken further said: 'We maintain our longstanding objection to the Court's efforts to assert jurisdiction over personnel of non-States Parties such as the United States and Israel.'
Blinken said they believe, however, that
their concerns about these cases would be better addressed through engagement with all stakeholders in the ICC process rather than through the imposition of sanctions.
He said their support for the rule of law, access to justice, and accountability for mass atrocities are important US national security interests that are protected and advanced by engaging with the rest of the world to meet the challenges of today and tomorrow.
He said since the Nuremberg and Tokyo Tribunals after World War II, US leadership meant that history permanently recorded fair judgments issued by international tribunals against justly convicted defendants from the Balkans to Cambodia, to Rwanda and elsewhere
The statement said Americans believe they have carried on that legacy by supporting a range of international, regional, and domestic tribunals, and international investigative mechanisms for Iraq, Syria and Burma, to realise the promise of justice for victims of atrocities.
'We will continue to do so through cooperative relationships,' Blinken said.
Blinken said they are encouraged that State Parties to the Rome Statute are considering a broad range of reforms to help the Court prioritise its resources and to achieve its core mission of serving as a court of last resort in punishing and deterring atrocities.
'We think this reform is a worthwhile effort,' he said.
Speaking in parliament yesterday, Lesotho's Foreign Affairs Minister 'Matšepo Ramakoae, thanked US President Joe Biden 'for lifting the sanctions as the investigators were just doing their job'.
Ramakoae said the decision comes after Lesotho established solid relations with the United States and other European countries.
'We have been pleading that the sanctions be lifted,' Ramakoae said.
The ICC investigates crimes against humanity, war crimes, and genocides.
Staff Reporter
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