Secretary of State Marco Rubio has fired back at the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) “illegitimate interventions” on American military and law enforcement, announcing a “diplomatic campaign” against the intergovernmental organization.
In a statement issued on X, Secretary Rubio accused the ICC of wanting to take away the U.S.’s “essential and indispensable feature of our form of government” – the ability to “choose our own leaders,” “determine our own laws,” and “stand for judgment before a jury of our own peers” when accused of a crime.
“As we speak, the ICC and its friends are waging a war against our country – not with bullets or missiles, but with statues, compacts and the force of so-called ‘international law,’” Secretary Rubio shared.
His claims come as the ICC has attempted to prosecute American personnel for their involvement in Afghanistan, mass deportations to El Salvador under the Second Trump Administration, and strikes against alleged narcoterrorism organizations.
The ICC's "Illegitimate Interventions"
In 2020, the ICC launched a probe into alleged “war crimes by members of the United States armed forces” in Afghanistan, arguing that the U.S. did not prosecute enough military personnel to “satisfy the court,” Secretary Rubio wrote in a Wall Street Journal Op-ed announcing the “diplomatic campaign.”
He argued that the ICC’s chief prosecutor was essentially “anointing herself the final judge of U.S. military policy and the entire U.S. justice system.”
During the Second Trump administration, the ICC declared “Operation Southern Spear” a “crime against humanity,” and has been urged to launch investigations into “Operation Epic Fury” and its immigration crackdown.
As the U.S. attempted to push back against the ICC’s “interventions,” such as when the organization issued an arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the organization accused U.S. Senators of already being criminals for writing threatening letters to the Court.
Rubio Affirms The U.S. Will Dismantle the ICC
“Using all the tools at our government’s disposal, working beside every ally with whom we can make common cause, we will dismantle the ICC—brick by brick, if necessary,” Secretary Rubio affirmed.
