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Mexico Leads 59 Nations Defending ICC Against 'Unacceptable' Trump Sanctions
One observer asserted that Washington's sanctions against the tribunal "have nothing to with US interest and everything to do with upholding Israeli impunity as it commits genocide."
Nov 14, 2025
Mexico this week led 59 United Nations member states in affirming their support for the International Criminal Court and—without mentioning US officials by name—decrying their sanctions against ICC judges in retaliation for efforts to prosecute Israeli leaders for alleged crimes against humanity in Gaza.
The Mexican mission to the UN delivered a letter reaffirming the 59 nations' "continued and unwavering support for the independence, impartiality, and integrity of the ICC," the Hague-based tribunal that is the world's only permanent court with jurisdiction to prosecute individuals for genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, and aggression.
"We express our deep concern over recent measures sanctioning ICC officials, staff, and those cooperating with the court," the letter continues. "Such measures erode the international rule of law, constitute an unacceptable interference with judicial independence, undermine ongoing investigations, and threaten the global fight against impunity."
In February, US President Donald Trump accused the ICC of engaging in "illegitimate and baseless actions targeting America and our close ally Israel" and ordered "tangible and significant consequences on those responsible for the ICC’s transgressions, some of which may include the blocking of property and assets, as well as the suspension of entry into the United States of ICC officials, employees, and agents, as well as their immediate family members."
This, after the ICC issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, former Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant—who in October 2023 ordered the "complete siege" of Gaza that has caused famine and illness to spread—and three Hamas members, since killed by Israel, for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity. In the case of Netanyahu and Gallant, these include murder and forced starvation.
Israel and the United States vehemently reject the ICC charges. The US—which, like Israel, is not party to the Rome Statute governing the ICC—has ignored the warrants. The White House and US lawmakers have welcomed the two fugitive Israelis as they traveled unimpeded to the United States.
In June, Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced sanctions targeting the four ICC judges who authorized arrest warrants for Netanyahu and who green-lighted an investigation into torture allegations against American troops in Afghanistan. This, despite ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan's exclusion of US forces from the Afghanistan probe, which focused only on alleged Taliban and Islamic State crimes.
As Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft executive vice president Trita Parsi said Friday in response to the letter, "US sanction[s] against the ICC have nothing to with US interest and everything to do with upholding Israeli impunity as it commits genocide."
The 59 countries' letter denounces the sanctions, which "violate both the letter and the spirit of the Rome Statute and consequently place victims, witnesses, and court officials, many of whom are our nationals, at risk."
"All states must respect and protect the court's judicial functions and refrain from any coercive measures that would impede the court's work, impartiality, and independence," the letter stresses.
The Trump administration has also sanctioned other international officials who have condemned Israel's genocidal war on Gaza and US complicity, including Francesca Albanese, the UN special rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territories.
The administration has also taken aim at members of the International Court of Justice, also in The Hague, as they weigh a genocide case against Israel filed by South Africa in December 2023. The ICJ has issued several provisional orders for Israel to avoid genocidal acts, allow aid into Gaza, and end the assault on Rafah. Israel has been accused of ignoring all of these orders.
US disdain and animosity toward the ICC is nothing new. During the administration of George W. Bush, the US passed the American Service Members’ Protection Act—also known as the Hague Invasion Act—which 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 Mexico-led letter follows other affirmations of support for the ICC and its mission, including statements issued in June 2024 and February 2025 signed by 93 and 79 UN member states, respectively.
Speaking on the same day that Mexico delivered its letter, UN General Assembly President Annalena Baerbock of Germany condemned sanctions against ICC members as “attacks against the very principles of international law."
“For more than two decades, the court has faced impunity and shown that, even in the darkest moments, accountability remains possible,” Baerbock said. “However, today, while we are witnessing atrocities that continue to shock the conscience of humanity, it is evident that the mission of the court is far from fulfilled.”
“Court officials have been sanctioned for upholding the rule of law and demanding accountability, and their systems have been targeted by cyberattacks aimed at undermining the credibility of the court,” she noted. "These are not isolated incidents, but deliberate attacks against the court with the aim of weakening the rule of law and eroding trust in international institutions.”
The new letter came as ICC President Tomoko Akane delivered the court's annual report to the General Assembly.
“We are only bound by the law and we do not change the course of our actions due to threats, be them political or of another nature,” Akane said Tuesday. “We will continue abiding by our mandate undeterred, with integrity, determination, impartiality, and independence at all times.”
“Let me be very clear on this," she added. "We cannot give up. We will not give up."
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Trump's Ploy at the UN Is American Imperialism Masquerading as a Peace Process
Palestine remains the endless victim of US and Israeli maneuvers. The results are not just devastating for Palestine, which has suffered an outright genocide, but for the Arab world and beyond.
Nov 13, 2025
The Trump administration is pushing an Israeli-crafted resolution at the UN Security Council (UNSC) this week aimed at eliminating the possibility of a State of Palestine. The resolution does three things. It establishes US political control over Gaza. It separates Gaza from the rest of Palestine. And it allows the US, and therefore Israel, to determine the timeline for Israel’s supposed withdrawal from Gaza–which would mean: never.
This is imperialism masquerading as a peace process. In and of itself it’s no surprise. Israel runs US foreign policy in the Middle East. What is a surprise is that the US and Israel might just get away with this travesty unless the world speaks up with urgency and indignation.
The draft UNSC resolution would establish a US-UK-dominated Board of Peace, chaired by none other than Donald Trump himself, and endowed with sweeping powers over Gaza’s governance, borders, reconstruction, and security. This resolution would sideline the State of Palestine and condition any transfer of authority to the Palestinians on the indulgence of the Board of Peace.
This would be an overt return to the British Mandate of 100 years ago, with the only change being that the US would hold the mandate rather than Britain. If it weren’t so utterly tragic, it would be laughable. As Marx said, history repeats itself, first as tragedy, then as farce. Yes, the proposal is farce, yet Israel’s genocide is not. It is tragedy of the first order.
If it weren’t so utterly tragic, it would be laughable.
Incredibly, according to the draft resolution, the Board of Peace would be granted sovereign powers in Gaza. Palestinian sovereignty is left to the discretion of the Board, which alone would decide when Palestinians are “ready” to govern themselves – perhaps in another 100 years? Even military security is subordinated to the Board, and the envisioned forces would answer not to the UN Security Council or to the Palestinian people, but to the Board’s “strategic guidance.”
The US-Israel resolution is being put forward precisely because the rest of the world—other than Israel and the US—has woken up to two facts. First, Israel is committing genocide, a reality witnessed every day in Gaza and the West Bank, where innocent Palestinians are murdered to the satisfaction of the Israel Defense Forces and the illegal Israeli settlers in the West Bank. Second, Palestine is a state, albeit one whose sovereignty remains obstructed by the US, which uses its veto in the UNSC to block Palestine’s permanent UN membership. At the UN this past July and then again in September, the UN General Assembly voted overwhelmingly for Palestine’s statehood, a fact that put the Israel-US Zionist lobby into overdrive, resulting in the current draft resolution.
For Israel to accomplish its goal of Greater Israel, the US is pursuing a classic divide-and-conquer strategy, squeezing Arab and Islamic states with threats and inducements. When other countries resist the US-Israel demands, they are cut off from critical technologies, lose access to World Bank and IMF financing, and suffer Israeli bombing, even in countries with US military bases present. The US offers no real protection; rather, it orchestrates a protection racket, extracting concessions from countries wherever US leverage exists. This extortion will continue until the global community stands up to such tactics and insists upon genuine Palestinian sovereignty and US and Israeli adherence to international law.
Palestine remains the endless victim of US and Israeli maneuvers. The results are not just devastating for Palestine, which has suffered an outright genocide, but for the Arab world and beyond. Israel and the US are currently at war, overtly or covertly, across the Horn of Africa (Libya, Sudan, Somalia), the Eastern Mediterranean (Lebanon, Syria), the Gulf region (Yemen), and Western Asia (Iraq, Iran).
If the UN Security Council is to provide true security in accordance with the UN Charter, it must not yield to US pressures and instead act decisively in line with international law. A resolution truly for peace should include four vital points. First, it should welcome the State of Palestine as a sovereign UN member state, with the US lifting its veto. Second, it should safeguard the territorial integrity of the State of Palestine and Israel, according to the 1967 borders. Third, it should establish a UNSC-mandated protection force drawn up from Muslim-majority states. Fourth, it should include the defunding and disarmament of all belligerent non-state entities, and it should ensure the mutual security of Israel and Palestine.
The two-state solution is about true peace—not about the politicide and genocide of Palestine, or the continued attacks by militants on Israel. It’s time for both Palestinians and Israelis to be safe, and for the US and Israel to give up the cruel delusion of permanently ruling over the Palestinian people.
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UN Climate Chief: Refusal to Halt Planetary Destruction Will 'Never, Ever Be Forgiven'
"We must move much, much, faster on both reductions of emissions and strengthening resilience," Simon Stiell said at COP30 in Brazil.
Nov 10, 2025
At the opening of the United Nations summit known as COP30 on Monday, UN Framework Convention on Climate Change Executive Secretary Simon Stiell warned those gathered in Brazil of the "indisputable" dangers of inaction.
"Ten years ago in Paris, we were designing the future—a future that would clearly see the curve of emissions bend downwards," he said, referring to the interntaionl agreement to reduce planet-heating pollution in hopes of keeping temperature rise this century at 1.5°C, relative to preindustrial levels. The global average temperature last year was above that limit.
"The emissions curve has been bent downwards. Because of what was agreed in halls like this, with governments legislating, and markets responding. But I am not sugar-coating it. We have so much more work to do," Stiell stressed. "We must move much, much, faster on both reductions of emissions and strengthening resilience."
"The science is clear: We can and must bring temperatures back down to 1.5°C after any temporary overshoot," he continued. A UN assessment from last week found that under Paris Agreement countries' recently submitted plans, or Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), the global temperature could soar to 2.3-2.5°C.
Stiell said: "We find ourselves here in Belém, at the mouth of the Amazon. And we can learn a lot from this mighty river. The Amazon isn't a single entity, rather a vast river system supported and powered by over a thousand tributaries. To accelerate implementation, the COP process must be supported in the same way—powered by the many streams of international cooperation."
"We don't need to wait for late NDCs to slowly trickle in, to spot the gap and design the innovations necessary to tackle it," he noted. "To falter whilst megadroughts wreck national harvests, sending food prices soaring, makes zero sense, economically or politically. To squabble while famines take hold, forcing millions to flee their homelands, this will never be forgotten, as conflicts spread."
"While climate disasters decimate the lives of millions, when we already have the solutions, this will never, ever be forgiven," he argued. "The economics of this transition are as indisputable as the costs of inaction. Solar and wind are now the lowest-cost power in 90% of the world. Renewables overtook coal this year as the world's top energy source. Investment in clean energy and infrastructure will hit another record high this year."
Highlighting a previous agreement to deliver at least $300 billion in climate finance, with developed countries taking the lead, Stiell called for moving toward $1.3 trillion, along with progress on adaptation and inclusive and just transitions. He declared, "In this arena of COP30, your job here is not to fight one another—your job here is to fight this climate crisis, together."
UN Secretary-General António Guterres and Brazilian leaders, including President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, also emphasized the importance of collaboration at the summit to take on the fossil fuel-driven climate emergency.
According to the Associated Press:
André Corrêa do Lago, president of this year's conference, emphasized that negotiators must engage in "mutirão," derived from a local Indigenous word that refers to a group uniting for a task.
Complicating those calls is the United States, where President Donald Trump has long denied the existence of climate change. His administration did not send high-level negotiators and is withdrawing for the second time from the 10-year-old Paris Agreement, the first global pact to fight climate change.
As Common Dreams reported last week, Amnesty International secretary general Agnès Callamard urged all governments attending COP30 "to resist aligning with the Trump administration's denial of the accelerating climate crisis and instead demonstrate true climate leadership."
"In the face of President Trump's rejection of science coupled with the intensified lobbying for fossil fuels, global leaders must redouble their efforts to take urgent climate action—with or without the US," Callamard asserted.
An analysis of COP26-COP29 published Friday by Kick Big Polluters Out coalition found that "over 5,350 fossil fuel lobbyists have attended UN climate negotiations in just four years, with 90 of the corporations they represent responsible for nearly 60% of all global oil and gas production."
"Three decades of climate negotiations have failed to justly end fossil fuels, scale up real solutions, and deliver climate action that centers people and the planet, not Big Polluters' profits," the coalition said. "Until the well-evidenced obstruction of the fossil fuel industry is addressed and strong, lasting protections are in place, COP30 and all future COPs are pre-destined to fail."
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