It is frightening how the International Criminal Court is being subjected to "coercion, threats, pressure, and sabotage" at present, says Akane, as she opens the judges' annual meeting in The Hague.
The court is being threatened with draconian economic sanctions by one of the permanent members of the Security Council, as if it were a terrorist organization, says the Japanese woman in her opening speech.
Threat of sanctions
She is likely referring to demands from several Republican senators in the US to impose sanctions on the ICC – and on its allies, if they assist the court in its arrest warrant against Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. President Joe Biden has described the decision as a scandal.
The court has reasonable grounds to suspect Netanyahu, his Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, and Hamas leader Mohammed Dayf of war crimes, notes Tomoko Akane.
The chairperson also points out another permanent member of the Security Council, Russia, which responded to an international arrest warrant against President Vladimir Putin by requesting that the ICC's prosecutor and judges be arrested.
"Historic turning point"
We are at a turning point in history, says Tomoko Akane.
The ICC will continue to perform its lawful mandate, independently and impartially, without giving in to external interference.
The 124 countries participating in the ICC cooperation commit to following its decisions. The US, Russia, and Israel are outside. The US's incoming President Donald Trump directed sanctions against the ICC's then-prosecutor Fatou Bensouda during his previous term when she wanted to investigate American actions in Afghanistan.
