THE HAGUE: For a few hours last week, the International Criminal Court looked poised to take a Libyan warlord into custody. Instead, member state Italy sent the head of a notorious network of detention centers back home.
That has left the court without a single trial ahead for the first time since it arrested its first suspect in 2006. And it’s now facing serious external pressure, notably from US President Donald Trump.
Though its docket remains empty, the court still wields an $200 million annual budget and a large number of legal eagles keen to lay their hands on Russian President Vladimir Putin and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
“The lack of trials damages the court’s reputation,” said Danya Chaikel of the International Federation for Human Rights. “The point of the ICC is to investigate and prosecute those most responsible for international crimes.”
Empty courtrooms show how hard it is to end impunity
The only permanent global court of last resort to prosecute individuals responsible for the world’s most heinous atrocities has not been in this position for almost two decades.
Congolese warlord Thomas Lubanga became the first person convicted by court in The Hague. In 2012, he was sentenced to 14 years in prison for conscripting child soldiers.
Since Lubanga’s trial began, the court has had a slow but steady stream of proceedings. To date it has convicted 11 people and three verdicts are pending.
It has issued 32 unsealed arrest warrants. Those suspects range from Netanyahu and Putin to Lord’s Resistance Army leader Joseph Kony and Gamlet Guchmazov, accused of torture in the breakaway region of South Ossetia in Georgia.
But it faces numerous challenges. Trump, on his first day in office, reinstated an executive order from his previous term sanctioning court staff. A more damaging piece of legislation, which would sanction the court as an institution, has passed one chamber of Congress but is stalled in the Senate for now due to opposition from Democrats.
Putin will probably remain beyond court’s reach
The previous chief prosecutor, Gambian Fatou Bensouda, described being the subject of “thug-style tactics” while she was in office. The court was the victim of a cybersecurity attack in 2023 that left systems offline for months and some technical issues have still not been resolved. In 2022, the Dutch intelligence service said it had foiled a sophisticated attempt by a Russian spy using a false Brazilian identity to work as an intern at the court.
The current prosecutor, British lawyer Karim Khan, has requested a record-breaking 24 arrest warrants. But many suspects — like Putin — will probably remain beyond the reach of the court.
Neither Russia nor Israel are members of the court and do not accept its jurisdiction, making it highly unlikely those countries would extradite their citizens, let alone their leaders, to the ICC.
“They haven’t issued arrest warrants for people who they are likely to arrest,” says Mark Kersten, an international criminal justice expert at University of the Fraser Valley in Canada.
Ultimately, countries are responsible for physically apprehending people and bringing them to The Hague, says Chaikel, whose group oversees nearly 200 human rights organizations worldwide.
Many of the court’s 125 member states are unwilling to arrest suspects for political reasons. Mongolia gave Putin a red-carpet welcome for a state visit last year, ignoring the obligation to apprehend him. South Africa and Kenya refused to arrest former Sudanese president Omar Al-Bashir when he visited. The 81-year-old was ousted from power in a coup in 2019 but the authorities in Sudan have still refused to hand him over to the ICC.
Unwanted attention to Italy’s migration policies
Italy claims the ICC warrant for Libyan warlord Ossama Anjiem had procedural errors. He was released this month by an order of Rome’s Court of Appeal. “It was not a government choice,” Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni told reporters.
But Italy, which was a founding member of the court, may have had its own reasons for not executing the warrant. Italy needs the Tripoli government to prevent waves of migrants from setting out on smugglers boats. Any trial in The Hague of the warlord could not only upset that relationship, but also bring unwanted attention to Italy’s migration policies and its support of the Libyan coast guard, which it has financed to prevent migrants from leaving.
On Wednesday, three men who say they were mistreated by Anjiem, also known as Ossama Al-Masri, while in Libyan detention centers told a packed conference in Italy’s lower house of parliament that they want justice for themselves and others who died before making it to Italy.
David Yambio, a South Sudanese migrant who said he had cooperated with the ICC investigation, called Al-Masri’s repatriation “a huge betrayal. A huge disappointment.”
There is little consequence for countries who fail to arrest those wanted by the court. Judges found that South Africa, Kenya and Mongolia failed to uphold their responsibilities but by then, the wanted men had already left.
International Criminal Court has Putin, Netanyahu in its sights, yet its courtrooms are empty
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International Criminal Court has Putin, Netanyahu in its sights, yet its courtrooms are empty
- Though its docket remains empty, the court still wields an $200 million annual budget
- The International Criminal Court has found itself without a single trial ahead for the first time in years
Austrian woman on trial after repatriation from Syrian detention camp
- Evelyn T., who is accused of having been a member of a terrorist group from 2015 to 2017, could face up to 10 years in prison
- She left Austria for Syria’s then Daesh controlled area in 2016 to join her husband
Since the Daesh group was ousted from its self-declared “caliphate” in 2019, the return of family members of fighters that were either captured or killed has been a thorny issue for European countries.
Evelyn T., 26, has been in detention since she was repatriated to Austria last month, while her son, seven, was placed in social services’ custody.
On Wednesday, she was expected to plead guilty in court to the charges of being part of a terrorist group and a criminal organization, according to her lawyer Anna Mair.
“She takes responsibility for what she has done... and she wants to lead a normal life in the future,” Mair said ahead of the trial’s opening.
Evelyn T., who is accused of having been a member of a terrorist group from 2015 to 2017, could face up to 10 years in prison.
She left Austria for Syria’s then Daesh controlled area in 2016 to join her husband, “supporting him psychologically and taking care of the household,” according to the charges.
Their son was born in 2017. The couple surrendered later that year, with Evelyn T. and her son ending up in a Kurdish-run detention camp for suspected militants.
The two were repatriated together with another woman, Maria G., and her two sons.
Maria, now 28, left Austria in 2017 to join Daesh in Syria. She remains free since her return, while an investigation is ongoing.
Last year, a Vienna court ordered that she and her sons be repatriated, stressing that it was “in the children’s greater interest.”
Austria’s foreign ministry had previously rejected her request to be repatriated, saying that only the children would be accepted.
The EU member previously repatriated several children.
Belgium, France, Germany and the Netherlands are among other countries that have repatriated relatives of militant fighters.
Many of the women returned have been charged with terrorism crimes and imprisoned.
EU countries set to approve first retaliation against US tariffs
- The approval will come on the day that Trump’s ‘reciprocal’ tariffs on the EU and dozens of countries took effect
- The European Commission proposed on Monday extra duties mostly of 25 percent on a range of US imports
BRUSSELS: European Union countries are expected to approve on Wednesday the bloc’s first countermeasures against US President Donald Trump’s tariffs, joining China and Canada in retaliating and escalating a conflict that could become a global trade war.
The approval will come on the day that Trump’s “reciprocal” tariffs on the EU and dozens of countries took effect, including massive 104 percent duties on China, extending his tariff onslaught and spurring more widespread selling across financial markets.
The 27-nation bloc faces 25 percent import tariffs on steel and aluminum and cars as well as the new broader tariffs of 20 percent for almost all other goods under Trump’s policy to hit countries he says impose high barriers to US imports.
The European Commission, which coordinates EU trade policy, proposed on Monday extra duties mostly of 25 percent on a range of US imports in response specifically to the US metals tariffs. It is still assessing how to respond to the car and broader levies.
The imports include motorcycles, poultry, fruit, wood, clothing and dental floss, according to a document seen by Reuters. They totaled about €21 billion ($23 billion) last year, meaning the EU’s retaliation will be against goods worth less than the €26 billion of EU metals exports hit by US tariffs.
They are to enter force in stages – on April 15, May 16 and December 1.
A committee of trade experts from the EU’s 27 countries will vote on Wednesday afternoon on the Commission’s proposal, which will only be blocked if a “qualified majority” of 15 EU members representing 65 percent of the EU population vote against.
That is an unlikely event given the Commission has already canvassed EU members and refined an initial list from mid-March, removing US dairy and alcoholic drinks.
Major wine exporters France and Italy had expressed concern after Trump threatened to hit EU wine and spirits with a 200 percent tariff if the EU went ahead with its planned 50 percent duty on bourbon.
Trump has already responded to Beijing’s counter-tariffs announced last week, nearly doubling duties on Chinese imports. China has vowed to “fight to the end.”
Indonesia president says ready to temporarily shelter Gazans
- “We are ready to receive wounded victims,” Indonesia President Prabowo Subianto said
- Wounded Palestinians and “traumatized, orphaned children” would be prioritized, he said.
JAKARTA: Indonesia President Prabowo Subianto on Wednesday said he was prepared to grant temporary shelter to Palestinians affected by the war in Gaza between the Israeli military and the territory’s rulers Hamas.
Nearly 400,000 Gaza residents have been displaced in the weeks since Israel resumed military operations in the territory last month, according to the United Nations.
“We are ready to receive wounded victims,” Prabowo said before leaving for a Middle East visit to the United Arab Emirates, Turkiye, Egypt, Qatar and Jordan.
“We are ready to send planes to transport them. We estimate the numbers may be 1,000 for the first wave.”
Wounded Palestinians and “traumatized, orphaned children” would be prioritized, he said.
He said he had instructed his foreign minister to talk with Palestinian officials and “parties in the region” on how to evacuate wounded or orphaned Gazans.
The victims would only be in Indonesia until they recovered and it was safe for their return.
Indonesia, the world’s most populous Muslim nation, has consistently called for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
According to Turkish media, Prabowo will be afforded the rare opportunity to address the Turkish parliament.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is one of the main backers of the Palestinian cause and visited Indonesia in February, where the pair pledged closer ties.
China vows ‘firm and forceful measures’ in response to new US tariffs
- China – Washington’s top economic rival but also a major trading partner – is the hardest hit
- Tariffs imposed on its products since Trump returned now reaching a staggering 104 percent
BEIJING: China vowed on Wednesday it would take “firm and forceful” steps to protect its interests, after steep US tariffs of 104 percent came into effect.
Following the sweeping 10 percent tariffs imposed over the weekend, rates on imports to the United States from exporters including the European Union and Japan rose further on Wednesday.
China – Washington’s top economic rival but also a major trading partner – is the hardest hit, with tariffs imposed on its products since Trump returned to the White House now reaching a staggering 104 percent.
In response, Beijing’s foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian insisted that “the Chinese people’s legitimate right to development is inalienable.”
“China’s sovereignty, security and development interests are inviolable,” he said.
“We will continue to take firm and forceful measures to safeguard our legitimate rights and interests,” Lin said.
Also on Wednesday, Beijing’s commerce ministry said the country had “firm will” to fight a trade war with Washington, state news agency Xinhua said.
“With firm will and abundant means, China will resolutely take countermeasures and fight till the end if the United States insists on further escalating economic and trade restrictive measures,” Xinhua quoted the ministry as saying.
Nearly 100 dead in Dominican Republic nightclub roof collapse
- Renowned Dominican merengue singer Rubby Perez was one of those killed in the disaster
- More than 370 rescue personnel combed mounds of fallen bricks, steel bars and tin sheets for survivors
SANTO DOMINGO: Rescuers raced to find survivors early Wednesday after the roof of a Dominican Republic nightclub collapsed during a concert by popular singer Rubby Perez, one of nearly 100 people killed in the disaster.
Rescue workers were pressing on with the search effort, now limited more to recovering bodies from the rubble more than 24 hours after the roof caved in.
Renowned Dominican merengue singer Perez, who was performing at the Jet Set nightclub for hundreds of people when the roof collapsed shortly after midnight Tuesday, was one of those killed, according to his manager.
Relatives of clubgoers gathered around the disaster site in the capital Santo Domingo as rescuers ferried the injured to hospital, and used a crane to remove debris.
“We have some friends here, a niece, a cousin, some friends, who are in the rubble,” Rodolfo Espinal said, as he waited for information on his loved ones.
About 370 rescue personnel combed mounds of fallen bricks, steel bars and tin sheets for survivors.
Also among the dead were former Major League Baseball players Octavio Dotel and Tony Blanco.
Dotel, who was 51 years old, was rescued alive but later died of his injuries, local media reported.
A black-and-white photo of Dotel and images of the Dominican flag were projected onto the scoreboard at Citi Field in New York before Tuesday’s game between the New York Mets and the Miami Marlins.
“Peace to his soul,” the Dominican Republic Professional Baseball League wrote in separate social media posts paying tribute to the two ex-players.
Local media said there were between 500 and 1,000 people in the club when disaster struck at around 12:44 am (0444 GMT) Tuesday. The club has capacity for about 1,700 people.
Perez was on stage when there was a blackout and the roof came crashing down, according to eyewitness reports.
Perez’s daughter Zulinka told reporters she had managed to escape after the roof collapsed, but he did not.
Also among the dead was the governor of the Monte Cristi municipality, Nelsy Cruz, according to President Luis Abinader.
He declared three days of national mourning.
By early Wednesday, the preliminary death toll had reached 98, said Juan Manuel Mendez, director of the Emergency Operations Center.
“No people have been found alive since 3:00 p.m. (Tuesday),” Mendez said in his latest update.
“As long as there is hope for life, all authorities will be working to recover or rescue these people,” he said earlier.
Iris Pena, a woman who had attended the show, told SIN television how she escaped with her son.
“At one point, dirt started falling like dust into the drink on the table,” she said.
“A stone fell and cracked the table where we were, and we got out,” Pena recounted. “The impact was so strong, as if it had been a tsunami or an earthquake.”
Dozens of family members flocked to hospitals for news.
“We are desperate,” Regina del Rosa, whose sister was at the concert, told SIN. “They are not giving us news, they are not telling us anything.”
Helicopter images revealed a large hole where the club’s roof once was. A crane was helping lift some of the heavier rubble as men in hard hats dug through the debris.
Authorities have issued a call for Dominicans to donate blood.
Artists paid tribute to Rubby Perez on social media, with former colleague Wilfrido Vargas saying he was “devastated.”
“The friend and idol of our genre has left us,” Vargas wrote.
“Maestro, what a great pain he leaves us,” wrote Puerto Rican singer Olga Tanon.
The Instagram page of the Jet Set club said it has been in operation for more than 50 years, with shows every Monday until the early hours.
Its last post before Monday’s event invited fans to come and “enjoy his (Perez’s) greatest hits and dance in the country’s best nightclub.”
On Tuesday, the club issued a statement saying it was working “fully and transparently” with authorities.
The Jet Set collapse was one of the biggest tragedies the Caribbean nation and top tourist destination has faced in recent years.
In 2023, about 40 people were killed and dozens injured in an explosion linked to a plastics company in San Cristobal, near Santo Domingo.
And in 2005, more than 130 prisoners in the east of the country died in a fire caused by a fight between inmates.
Tourism generates about 15 percent of GDP in the country, with millions of annual visitors attracted by its music, nightlife, Caribbean beaches and the colonial architecture of the capital.
