US pressures NATO allies to destroy International Criminal Court

The U.S. attempted to enlist its NATO allies in a campaign to “systematically dismantle” the International Criminal Court, straining already fraught transatlantic relations, Politico reports.

During a closed-door meeting of NATO’s 32 ambassadors in Brussels in mid-July, U.S. envoy Matthew Whitaker asked NATO countries for help in disassembling the international body, and urged them to leave the ICC’s founding document, the Rome Statute, according to three NATO diplomats who were granted anonymity to speak freely.

Whitaker ended his intervention by saying: “We will be watching closely who stands with America,” the three diplomats said.

It also pressed allies to “examine the threat” of the ICC to their own countries, “publicly condemn” its “overreach” and “cease … immediately” any material support to the court.

Although NATO is not a signatory to the court, all alliance members except Turkey and the U.S. belong.