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'It's Rule of Law or Barbarism,' Says Francesca Albanese After Rubio Attack on ICC
"All states and people who care for freedom must rise up in defense of the ICC and international justice now, before it's too late," the UN Palestine expert implored.
Jul 14, 2026
More defenders of human rights and the rule of law weighed on Tuesday after US Secretary of State Marco Rubio's announcement of a "campaign to dismantle" the International Criminal Court, many of whose judges and prosecutors have already been sanctioned by the administration of President Donald Trump.
Rubio raised eyebrows around the world by accusing the International Criminal Court—which is based in The Hague, Netherlands—of “waging a war against our country—not with bullets or missiles, but with statutes, compacts, and the force of so-called international law," and cryptically vowing that the Trump administration “will teach the ICC the full meaning of American resolve.”
On Tuesday, Francesca Albanese, the United Nations special rapporteur for the occupied Palestinian territories, called Rubio's announcement "utterly shocking but not a surprise."
"All states and people who care for freedom must rise up in defense of the ICC and international justice now, before it's too late," added Albanese, who is under legally contested sanctions imposed by the Trump administration for her outspoken criticism of Israel's genocidal war on Gaza. "It's rule of law or barbarism."
Responding Monday to the secretary of state's remarks, Congresswoman Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) said on social media that "Rubio's announcement that he will dismantle the International Criminal Court is reckless and dangerous. It undermines the rule of law, weakens global accountability, and turns America's back on the values we claim to champion."
"The ICC is an international court of last resort, intended to prosecute only the most horrific crimes—war crimes, genocide, and crimes against humanity—when countries are unable or unwilling to do so themselves," Omar added. "The best way to avoid ICC scrutiny is simple: Don't commit atrocity crimes, and if credible allegations arise, investigate them transparently and hold those responsible accountable."
The Trump administration has already hit ICC judges with sanctions, including asset freezes, travel bans, and other penalties for ordering the arrest of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for alleged crimes against humanity and war crimes in Gaza, as well as for seeking to investigate US atrocities in Afghanistan.
ICC Chief Prosecutor Karim Khan and two deputy prosecutors, as well as eight judges, have been sanctioned by the US.
While the US and Israel are not parties to the Rome Statute governing the ICC and do not recognize the tribunal's legitimacy, the treaty states that individuals from nonsignatory nations can be held liable for crimes committed in the territory of a member state.
State Department spokesperson Tommy Piggott echoed Rubio's remarks, telling Newsmax on Tuesday morning that "if the ICC continues to try to threaten our sovereignty, they will know the full power of American resolve."
Responding to the interview, independent journalist Aaron Rupar asked, "Are we going to, like, bomb the International Criminal Court?"
Astute observers noted that the American Service Members’ Protection Act—passed during the George W. Bush administration and known colloquially as the "Hague Invasion Act"—authorizes the president to use “all means necessary and appropriate,” including military intervention, to secure the release of American or allied personnel held by or on behalf of the ICC.
"The ICC is not doing great. There's a lot to complain about. But this, we cannot allow. We cannot allow these hegemons and bullies to run this project into the ground because there is something worthy of protection and improvement in it," Iva Vukušić, an assistant professor of international history at Utrecht University in the Netherlands, said Tuesday on Bluesky in response to Rubio's threat.
I cannot stress this enough: If this institution is destroyed, we will have nothing new at the international level negotiated for a generation, if ever. I don't believe the ICC is amazing, and there's a lot going on on the domestic level, but we need an ICC. A better one. #Accountability #Justice
— Iva Vukušić (@vukusiciva.bsky.social) July 14, 2026 at 12:54 AM
"The arrogance of this man, his boss, and their corrupt administration is insufferable," Vukušić said in a separate Bluesky post. "The empire must fall for a thousand reasons, but this childish arrogance is among the most important ones."
Journalist Thor Benson also took to Bluesky, writing: "I hope Marco Rubio eventually gets tried before the ICC. That would be a good way for this to go."
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Susan Collins 'Must Be Held Accountable for Funding This Terror,' Says Troy Jackson After ICE Killing
"The one thing I know is they don't want us coming together to stop this bullshit, and that is what we have to do."
Jul 14, 2026
Democratic Senate candidate Troy Jackson was among the Mainers and progressives nationwide placing blame on Republican Sen. Susan Collins after US Immigration and Customs Enforcement shot and killed a 26-year-old Colombian man in the small southern Maine city of Biddeford Monday morning.
"Enough is enough. Susan Collins voted to send $70 billion dollars to ICE with no reforms. I'd abolish it altogether," Jackson said on social media Monday, sharing footage of the ICE Out rally in Biddeford after the fatal shooting of Joan Sebastian Guerrero.
A former candidate for governor and Maine state Senate president, Jackson is among several Democrats vying to replace primary winner Graham Platner on the November ballot and unseat Collins, who chairs the Senate Appropriations Committee. Maine residents descended on her office in Biddeford after the shooting.
"Susan Collins must be held accountable for funding this terror," Jackson reiterated Tuesday, sharing his remarks from Monday night's rally in Portland, about 18 miles northeast of where Guerrero—who was authorized to work in the United States and had a Social Security number, according to locate advocates—was gunned down by ICE agents reportedly looking for another man.
"This has got to end, and we have to abolish ICE," the Democratic candidate said. "And as sad as I am, I'm also very angry... I'm angry that Mr. Guerrero's not coming home tonight. I'm angry that he has a wife and a kid that will never see him again."
"I truly, truly believe in power of solidarity—and we have to stand together," he continued. "It is tough. It's hard, I know it. They want to make it hard. But the one thing I know is they don't want us coming together to stop this bullshit, and that is what we have to do. We have to remain vigilant. We have to stand up. We have to push back. We have to protect each other so that no more of these things happen."
"I don't want to see this happen again, and the only way we can do that is by pushing back and making sure that we don't have any more rallies like this, because it's damn depressing, it's damn heartbreaking, and it pisses me off to no end that we have to be in a world like this, but we can change it by standing together," Jackson added, also urging donations to the Maine Solidarity Fund to help Guerrero's family.
Collins on Monday called for "a full and impartial investigation" into Guerrero's killing and shared that Department of Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin told her that "the Boston office of the DHS inspector general has taken over the investigation of the Biddeford shooting in cooperation with the FBI."
In addition to Jackson, various critics in Maine and across the country—including Nirav Shah and Jordan Wood, other Democrats running to replace Platner—have responded to the shooting by called out Collins for helping the GOP give ICE billions more in funding without reforms.
The fatal shooting has also spurred fresh calls from across the country to abolish ICE, which has injured and killed a growing number of US citizens and immigrants during President Donald Trump's mass detention and deportation campaign.
New York City's democratic socialist mayor, Zohran Mamdani, said late Monday: "This morning in Biddeford, Maine, a 26-year-old man said goodbye to his wife and daughter and left for work. Moments later he was dead, shot in the head by ICE agents, the second man ICE has killed in six days. ICE is killing our neighbors. ICE cannot be reformed. Abolish ICE."
Guerrero's killing came after ICE fatally shot Lorenzo Salgado Araujo in Houston, Texas last week. The 52-year-old was from Mexico. Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said Monday that her government is seeking criminal charges in his and other deaths.
When asked about the recent killings in Texas and Maine on Monday, US Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY)—a progressive facing some pressure to run for the Senate or even president in future cycles—pointed to Republican funding for ICE.
While Mullin supposedly told Sen. Angus King (I-Maine) that Guerrero had "weaponized" a car he was driving—similar to DHS claims after previous shootings that were ultimately discredited by video footage—in this case, the department said on social media that "the vehicle attempted to flee the scene and, fearing for public safety, an officer discharged his weapon."
Multiple critics read the DHS statement as "a murder confession."
Congresswoman Yassamin Ansari (D-Ariz.) responded that "ICE murdered a 26-year-old in front of his wife and daughter. It’s just pure evil. This statement makes clear there was no threat whatsoever. Our taxpayer dollars are funding a fascist murder machine. Abolish ICE, and prosecute anyone who carried out, ordered, or enabled crimes."
Collins announced Tuesday morning that "while the investigation of the Biddeford shooting is not yet complete, it raises sufficient critical questions that I spoke with DHS Secretary Mullin last night and urged him to cease all non-urgent vehicle stops."
Amid reporting that the Trump administration has given that order to ICE, Shah quickly fired back: "Sen. Collins voted to fully fund ICE without any guardrails. A single late-night phone call isn't going to cut it."
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Sanders Says US Must End Support for UAE—’One of Trump’s Closest Allies’—as It Fuels Genocide in Sudan
"Trump’s good friend and staunch US ally, the United Arab Emirates dictatorship, run by one of the wealthiest families in the world—has financed and enabled this genocide for years."
Jul 14, 2026
As the world fears another massacre by the Rapid Support Forces in Sudan, Sen. Bernie Sanders emphasized that the rebel group’s string of atrocities is being funded by a nation with deep financial ties to President Donald Trump—the United Arab Emirates—and urged an end to US military support.
"In the midst of the wars in Gaza and Iran, we cannot forget the atrocities in Sudan," Sanders (I-Vt.) said Monday in a post to social media. "As many as 150,000 killed since 2023, 14 million driven from their homes, 30 million need humanitarian aid."
"All of this is fueled by the UAE—one of Trump's closest allies," the senator continued. "We cannot be complicit in genocide."
The warning came as RSF encircles El Obeid, a city of half a million people, including hundreds of thousands who have been displaced.
For weeks, the RSF has launched drone attacks that have killed dozens of civilians and damaged critical infrastructure including water facilities, markets, and hospitals. Food, water, and fuel supplies have been disrupted. Some civilians have begun to flee as many entry points to the city have been cut off.
The United Nations Security Council warned last month that there was an "imminent risk of mass atrocities" and demanded that the RSF halt its assault.
Human Rights Chief Volker Türk stressed that the siege tactics followed a familiar "playbook" to the RSF's October attack on El-Fasher in which at least 6,000 people were killed in just three days as part of a campaign that UN human rights experts said bore the "hallmarks of genocide," including ethnically targeted killings and sexual violence.
While the US State Department and other governments have similarly warned that the RSF could be on the verge of committing atrocities, Nicholas Kristof argued in a New York Times column this weekend that "officials won’t say openly... that the power behind the RSF is the United Arab Emirates."
Despite denials from Abu Dhabi, the UAE has been extensively documented as supporting the RSF through weapons shipments routed via Chad, financing the militia, and recruiting, training, and transporting mercenaries to fight alongside the group.
Kristof pointed out that the UAE "has particularly close financial ties to the Trump family," most notably the $2 billion investment by an Emirati firm last year that benefited his family's cryptocurrency venture, World Liberty Financial (WLF), which has been a major source for the unprecedented growth of the president's wealth during his second term.
Recent financial disclosures reported this month by the Wall Street Journal show that Trump received $263 million from selling half his stake in WLF to a fund backed by Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan, one of the UAE's most powerful royals and the brother of its president.
During his second term, Trump has rewarded the UAE with more than a billion dollars in weapons sales that were fast-tracked to get around holds imposed by Congress, and made an agreement giving the Emirates unprecedented access to hundreds of thousands of advanced computer chips per year.
“Trump’s good friend and staunch US ally, the United Arab Emirates dictatorship, run by one of the wealthiest families in the world—has financed and enabled this genocide for years,” Sanders said in a statement last week. "And why is this happening? Billions of dollars of looted gold from Sudan is flowing straight into the pockets of Emirati oligarchs—making a multibillionaire family even richer."He added that "Congress must demand that the UAE cease its military support for the RSF and work with the international community and the Sudanese people to bring an end to this horrific conflict and provide the humanitarian aid that is desperately needed there."
As warnings about a brutal new RSF offensive have piled up, there has been a push in Congress led by Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) and Rep. Sara Jacobs (D-Calif.) for restrictions on the United States' ability to provide weapons to the UAE.
Last month, with help from some Democrats, the GOP-controlled Senate Foreign Relations Committee blocked two amendments aimed at halting US weapons shipments to the UAE unless it stops supporting the RSF.
The committee has passed a weaker bill that allows the president to impose optional sanctions on individuals who supply weapons to Sudan's armed factions, which now awaits a full Senate vote. But the committee rejected Van Hollen's amendment prohibiting arms sales to the UAE.
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