Canadian judge Kimberly Prost is unable to use credit cards, transfer money or book everyday services in what she calls an attack on the independence of the judiciary

cross-posted from: https://beehaw.org/post/24014988

archive.is link

This summer Kimberly Prost, a Canadian judge at the International Criminal Court (ICC), arrived at her home in The Hague and, as was her habit, called out “Alexa”.

There was silence. The voice-activated assistant did not respond. “Alexa was dead. She wouldn’t talk to me,” Prost recalled in an interview with The Irish Times.

Prost had been added to the United States’ sanctions list, because in 2020 she ruled to authorise an investigation into possible atrocities in Afghanistan, including by US troops. Amazon, obliged to implement the sanctions as a US company, had cancelled her account.

It was just the start of what Prost describes as a “pervasive, negative effect” of the sanctions across all aspects of her life, which has shut her out from much of the international banking system.

…

“The purpose is clear. They have said, basically, we’re imposing these sanctions because of decisions you’ve taken in your role as a judge. So effectively, they are interfering directly with the independence of a judge,” Prost said.

“I can’t think of any other way to describe it but an attack on the independence of the judiciary and the International Criminal Court’s independence as an institution, which is why I’m so interested in the public hearing this.”

  • Puddinghelmet@lemmy.worldEnglish
    4·
    4 days ago

    US government and billionaire tech companies intertwine and use both their influence to enforce compliance beyond democratic rules. That’s the new USA foreign policy: (peace thru force/strength/power, national security strategy)

    1. European members that criticized big tech or the president have been blocked from entering the USA, (and USA pushing their culture views on Europe by all means necessary)
    2. Maduro getting kidnapped and his country getting taken over cause he didn’t comply
    3. The U.S. has never ratified the ICC anyway because why would they give up the freedom to do what they want… and normally does not recognize the jurisdiction of the ICC.

    The 2002 American Service-Members’ Protection Act (ASPA) literally states that the U.S. will attempt to protect U.S. military personnel and other citizens from ICC persecution — even with military action if necessary.

    That bill was nicknamed “The Hague Invasion Act” because in theory it authorizes the president to use force to free Americans from ICC prison.

    They even go as far as using big tech to blackmail members of the ICC that investigate war crimes of the US military (or Israel). Like you see in the article… crazy.

    The US and Israel reject the jurisdiction of the court. Neither country is among the 125 signatories of the Rome Statute, which established the ICC in 1998. However, the treaty sets out that nationals of non-member states can be tried for crimes that take place on the territory of states that are signatories.

    Afghanistan signed it in 2003 and the state of Palestine in 2014. The court therefore asserts its jurisdiction to prosecute the crimes of genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and crimes of aggression that have taken place in Gaza, East Jerusalem or the West Bank, no matter the nationality of the alleged perpetrators.

    In an executive order announcing the first round of ICC sanctions this year, US president Donald Trump said the court represented an “unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States” for its investigations into nationals of the US and Israel. The state department accused the court of conducting “lawfare” and infringing on US sovereignty.

    Along with the ICC staff, the US also sanctioned three Palestinian NGOs for engaging with the court in its efforts to “ investigate, arrest, detain or prosecute Israeli nationals”. The court is preparing for the possibility that the ICC itself might be sanctioned as an entity any day.

    Originally from Winnepeg, Prost was a public prosecutor in Canada and became specialized in the prosecution of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity. She served as a judge on the United Nations’ International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, which led to the conviction of multiple people for carrying out a genocide in Srebrenica.

    I guess america hates growing because you grow and become stronger from criticism and self reflection from journalists, but nah rather hate free speech and oppress criticism by all means necessary cause we wannea become weaker not stronger.