Major states rarely face the International Criminal Court while the \u201cdefeated\u201d and \u201cpowerless\u201d are most at risk, Gunnar Beck has told RT<\/p>\n
Western leaders are far less likely to face the International Criminal Court (ICC) for conduct comparable to that alleged against officials from weaker states, former MEP Gunnar Beck has told RT. The \u201cdefeated\u201d and \u201cpowerless\u201d are most at risk while leaders of major nations are largely shielded, he argued.
\nThe ICC was established in 2002 under the Rome Statute to try individuals accused of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity, but has faced longstanding accusations of political bias and selective justice.
\nIn an interview with RT on Tuesday, Beck said that \u201cmajor powers don\u2019t end up\u201d in the ICC, adding that international organizations remain \u201clargely dominated by Western powers and their sort of allies and vassals.\u201d Invoking Soviet leader Joseph Stalin\u2019s famous dictum that \u201cvictors are not judged,\u201d he argued that the court\u2019s record largely reflects the same principle.<\/p>\n
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\u201cThe same acts committed by a head of state of a major power, and especially a Western power, are far less likely, if not to say are altogether unlikely, to be prosecuted or brought before the court,\u201d he said.
\nHe argued that the pattern extends beyond whether countries formally belong to the court. Russia, China, the US, and India are not parties to the Rome Statute, but Beck said political power also affects the likelihood of prosecution.
\n\u201cIf you ask me, is a Russian leader more likely to be at least prosecuted before the court than an American leader, I\u2019d say yes, even if that were for similar deeds,\u201d he said. \u201cSo we certainly see a discrepancy here.\u201d
\nCriticism of the ICC has intensified in recent months. Venezuela, Chad, Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger have moved to withdraw from the court, accusing it of political bias and \u201cneocolonial repression.\u201d
\nRussia, which is not a party to the Rome Statute, rejected the ICC\u2019s authority when the court issued warrants for President Vladimir Putin and Children\u2019s Rights Commissioner Maria Lvova-Belova in 2023 over the alleged unlawful transfer of Ukrainian children.
\nThe administration of US President Donald Trump has pledged to \u201csystematically dismantle the threat posed\u201d by the ICC to US sovereignty. Israel has likewise rejected the court\u2019s jurisdiction, although the ICC issued arrest warrants for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and then-Defense Minister Yoav Gallant in 2024 over alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Major states rarely face the International Criminal Court while the \u201cdefeated\u201d and \u201cpowerless\u201d are most at risk, Gunnar Beck has told RT Western leaders are far less likely to face…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":38158,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":[],"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[4,6,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-38157","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-economy","category-environment","category-politics"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t