The Hague-based court has disproportionately targeted the Global South while powerful states escape scrutiny, David Lopez has told RT<\/p>\n
The International Criminal Court (ICC) needs sweeping reform to ensure that powerful countries are held to the same standards as the rest of the world, human rights advocate David Lopez has said.
\nThe Hague-based ICC was established in 2002 under the Rome Statute to prosecute genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity, and the crime of aggression. It has long faced accusations of political bias and selective justice.
\nSpeaking to RT on Tuesday, Lopez said that over the past two decades, cases in Africa and the Global South have received disproportionate attention, while alleged crimes involving powerful Western countries have gone unpunished.
\nHe referenced the 2003 Iraq war, claims of CIA torture, and the conflict in Gaza as examples, noting that alleged US crimes in the case of Afghanistan were set aside due to pressure from Washington.
\n\u201cJustice with no power over the powerful is colonial administration of the law,\u201d he said.
\nThe court must be \u201cdecolonized\u201d through structural reforms that give Africa, Asia, and Latin America greater representation and reduce its financial dependence on Western countries, Lopez argued.
\nThe ICC currently has 125 member states, but major powers, including the US, Russia, China, and India, are not among them. Israel also rejects its jurisdiction.
\nWashington has sanctioned ICC judges, prosecutors, and other staff over cases involving US and Israeli nationals. The court issued arrest warrants in 2024 for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and then-Defense Minister Yoav Gallant over alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.<\/p>\n
READ MORE: ICC head decries US sanctions<\/p>\n
The institution is also facing growing opposition from member states. Venezuela and Chad have recently announced plans to withdraw, bringing to five the number of countries seeking to leave over the past year, alongside Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger. The three African states have accused the ICC of selective justice and neocolonialism.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Hague-based court has disproportionately targeted the Global South while powerful states escape scrutiny, David Lopez has told RT The International Criminal Court (ICC) needs sweeping reform to ensure that…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":38190,"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-38189","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