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international criminal court
'Spain Does Not Look the Other Way': Sánchez Calls on EU to Block Israel-US Sanctions on ICC
"Sanctioning those who defend international justice puts the entire human rights system at risk," said the Spanish prime minister.
May 06, 2026
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez asked the European Commission on Wednesday to block compliance with US sanctions against the International Criminal Court over its arrest warrants against Israeli leaders accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.
Last February, US President Donald Trump signed an executive order sanctioning the ICC, citing its warrants in November 2024 for the arrest of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former defense minister, Yoav Gallant.
The ICC said at the time that the sanctions were meant to "harm its independent and impartial judicial work," potentially restricting officials’ access to US-linked property, services, travel, banking, and financial transactions, as they investigate widespread human rights violations and accusations of genocide during the more than two-year military campaign, which has resulted in the deaths of at least 72,000 Palestinians according to official estimates.
In a letter to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Wednesday, Sánchez called for the immediate activation of the European Union's Blocking Statute, which is designed to protect European citizens from the effects of foreign sanctions.
"Spain does not look the other way," Sánchez said in a post to social media. "Sanctioning those who defend international justice puts the entire human rights system at risk."
"The EU cannot remain idle in the face of this persecution," he continued. "That is why, today, we ask the commission to activate the Blocking Statute, to protect the independence of the International Criminal Court and the United Nations, and their actions to end the genocide in Gaza."
In addition to the ICC, Sánchez said that the commission should also shield Francesca Albanese, the United Nations special rapporteur for the Palestinian territories, whom the Trump administration also sanctioned in July, claiming that her stark criticisms of Israel's actions in Gaza helped to "prompt" the ICC investigation.
Following the announcement, Albanese issued a message of thanks to Sánchez over social media.
"Gracias, Presidente Sánchez," she wrote. "For your words, for your principled stance, and for trying to steer Europe away from the abyss."
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'These Are Murders': Trump Killing Spree Hits At Least 185
"The International Criminal Court is prosecuting the former Philippines president [Rodrigo] Duterte for the exact same thing."
Apr 27, 2026
The murder spree being conducted by the US government under the direction of President Donald Trump and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth climbed to an estimated 185 people on Sunday after the Pentagon announced another bombing of a boat it claims was trafficking illegal narcotics.
"On April 26, at the direction of SOUTHCOM commander Gen. Francis L. Donovan, Joint Task Force Southern Spear conducted a lethal kinetic strike on a vessel operated by Designated Terrorist Organizations," the US military stated in a social media post. "Intelligence confirmed the vessel was transiting along known narco-trafficking routes in the Eastern Pacific and was engaged in narco-trafficking operations. Three male narco-terrorists were killed during this action. No US military forces were harmed."
While no specific evidence was provided publicly to back up the claims made by SOUTHCOM about Sunday's strike, human rights experts and legal scholars have made clear for months that such lethal operations at sea—whether or not those targeted are in fact trafficking drugs—have no justification under international maritime law and that the extrajudicial killings should be seen for what they are: cold-blooded murder.
Footage released by SOUTHCOM showed the moment the vessel was attacked, and those aboard were killed:
On April 26, at the direction of #SOUTHCOM commander Gen. Francis L. Donovan, Joint Task Force Southern Spear conducted a lethal kinetic strike on a vessel operated by Designated Terrorist Organizations. Intelligence confirmed the vessel was transiting along known… pic.twitter.com/br2znnUM1x
— U.S. Southern Command (@Southcom) April 27, 2026
In a separate attack on April 24, also carried out by SOUTHCOM, two other individuals were murdered when their boat, filmed stationary in the ocean, was bombed by US forces:
On April 24, at the direction of #SOUTHCOM commander Gen. Francis L. Donovan, Joint Task Force Southern Spear conducted a lethal kinetic strike on a vessel operated by Designated Terrorist Organizations. Intelligence confirmed the vessel was transiting along known… pic.twitter.com/FRHwqXsHm2
— U.S. Southern Command (@Southcom) April 25, 2026
Nick Turse, an investigative journalist with The Intercept, which has been tracking the attacks, said the latest pair of attacks means five "more people have been murdered since Friday," bringing the total—since the attacks began last year—up to nearly 190 people.
"The Trump administration keeps summarily executing, rather than arresting, drug suspects," said Kenneth Roth, former executive director of Human Rights Watch and now a visiting professor at Princeton University, on Sunday. "These are murders. The International Criminal Court is prosecuting the former Philippines president [Rodrigo] Duterte for the exact same thing."
Last week, the ICC's pre-trial chamber unanimously confirmed all the charges levied against Duterte, paving the way for his trial to begin. Duterte, who served as mayor of the city of Davao and later as the nation's president, is accused of crimes against humanity over his violent crackdown on drugs that included extrajudicial killings and other brutal tactics by police and security forces.
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Iranian Group Submits Evidence of US-Israeli War Crimes to International Criminal Court
"All cases of attacks on civilians are being legally pursued based on the Geneva Conventions," said the head of the Iranian Red Crescent Society.
Apr 26, 2026
The head of the Iranian Red Crescent Society said Saturday that his organization has submitted evidence of US-Israeli war crimes to the International Criminal Court and other global bodies, seeking accountability for massive attacks on civilian infrastructure and other violations.
"The ICC prosecutor announced that the documents provided by the IRCS are accepted as official evidence," said Pir-Hossein Koulivand, the head of the Iranian Red Crescent Society. "All cases of attacks on civilians are being legally pursued based on the Geneva Conventions."
The IRCS estimates that US and Israeli airstrikes have destroyed more than 132,000 civilian structures throughout Iran, including hospitals, apartment buildings, universities, research facilities, and bridges. US President Donald Trump has repeatedly threatened to destroy all of Iran's bridges and power plants if the country's leadership does not succumb to his administration's demands in negotiations to end the war.
Luis Moreno Ocampo, the founding chief prosecutor of the ICC, said earlier this month that Trump could be indicted if he follows through on his threats.
“My suggestion: You read the indictment of the Russians, change the name, and it is very similar,” said Ocampo, referring to ICC arrest warrants issued against senior Russian officials in 2024 for alleged war crimes in Ukraine.
In a series of social media posts on Saturday, the IRCS provided video footage and photographic evidence of what the group described as war crimes committed by the US and Israeli militaries.
"Among the most bitter war crimes of America and Israel in Iran is the attack on the home of 19-month-old Helma in Tabriz, in which four members of her family were martyred," the IRCS wrote Saturday. "The only survivor of this family is Helma."
از: جمعیت هلال احمر جمهوری اسلامی ایران
به: همه مردم دنیا
موضوع: سند جنایت جنگی - شماره ۱۴
از تلخ ترین جنایات جنگی آمریکا و اسرائیل در ایران، حمله به خانه حلمای ۱۹ ماهه در تبریز است که ۴ نفر از اعضای خانوادهاش شهید شدند. تنها بازماندهٔ این خانواده، حلما است… https://t.co/mMw77THEyH pic.twitter.com/FIjIbMyBiw
— جمعیت هلالاحمر ایران (@Iranian_RCS) April 26, 2026
The ICC is tasked with investigating and prosecuting individuals for war crimes, crimes against humanity, and other grave violations of international law. Iran is not currently a party to the Rome Statute, which established the ICC—so the court does not have jurisdiction over war crimes committed on Iranian territory.
Human rights organizations and advocates have implored Iran to grant the ICC jurisdiction to pursue justice for war crimes committed during the illegal US-Israeli assault that began on February 28. On the first day of the war, the US bombed an elementary school in southern Iran.
"From the killing of over 150 students and teachers to strikes on hospitals full of newborns, every day more and more evidence emerges pointing to the commission of grave war crimes in Iran since the start of the war," said Omar Shakir, executive director of DAWN. "Victims deserve justice. The mechanisms exist, and the US has no veto over them."
Kenneth Roth, former executive director of Human Rights Watch, wrote earlier this month that "the Iranian government could join the court now and grant it retroactive jurisdiction, similar to what Ukraine did to allow prosecution of Russian war crimes."
Last month, the IRCS formally requested that the ICC initiate "an investigation into war crimes arising from attacks by the United States of America and the Israeli regime against civilian objects."
"According to field reports from relief workers, operational documentation, and data recorded by the Iranian Red Crescent Society, a wide range of residential areas, medical facilities, schools, humanitarian facilities, vital urban infrastructure, and public places were directly or indiscriminately targeted during the recent military attacks," the group wrote in a letter to the ICC's top prosecutor.
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