Thread by @kiphale

1) Let me first congratulate @SherryKyama & @O_Owiso for organizing a very stimulating
@opiniojuris symposium on the legacy of the #US' disgraceful sanctions on #ICC personnel. Some highlights and thoughts on some of these articles. opiniojuris.org/2021/04/19/sym…

2) Apologies in advance to the organizers if more articles are on their way. However, given that the much-anticipated @asilorg report on the future of US engagement w/ the ICC hits tomorrow, it seemed prudent to dive into this symposium beforehand.

3) The piece by @OrinaEsq was particularly good given that it (IMO, correctly) evaluates US sanctions through the broader prism of "more powerful vs weaker states" as opposed to something uniquely American/vis-a-vis US-ICC relations solely. opiniojuris.org/2021/04/20/icc…

4) While understandable that the US' self-proclaimed "exceptional" status (particularly re: human rights&the rule of law) exposes it to justified criticism, let us not forget that states are political animals & only in the rarest of examples would a state welcome ICC scrutiny.

5) And this is not to somehow absolve the US for its inconsistent&contradictory stance re: the ICC. Rather it is to say that the US does not stand alone in such inconsistency & contradictions, incl from w/in the ASP & its more powerful members. More on this below.

6) @ChidiOdinkalu article was most insightful re: how the @_AfricanUnion & most African countries either provided the bare minimum of support for the Ct in the face of such an unprecedented attack or were tacitly permissive of the Trump admin's actions. opiniojuris.org/2021/04/21/icc…

7) While not new to expose how the interests of African states (some calling the Ct a pawn of racist imperialist) can align w/the so-designated imperial, racist countries, it does solidify the broader point that any country can abandon principles when interests are jeopardized.

8)@Intl_lawman nicely dives to the heart of the matter: to find some level of consistency in the up-and-down US-ICC relationship w/ an #Afghanistan situation in play now, the onus is not on the Ct to play nice but for the US to hold its own accountable. opiniojuris.org/2021/04/22/icc…

6) However, some symposium contributions drew incomplete pictures or otherwise fell flat. In going down memory lane re: US-ICC relations (mostly quoting people who are no longer w/ us), @OumarKBa's fatalistic take provides more questions than insights. opiniojuris.org/2021/04/19/icc…

7) A la Bellinger, he blames the ICC for putting it on a "collision course" w/ US & Israel. Yet, was putting global powers in the crosshairs for credible allegations supposed to be met w/ roses? Many states, put in a like situation w/ the same tools, would react similarly.

8)Curiously, he also argues that US is centrally to blame for the ICC's predicament yet fails to acknowledge that it had many accomplices inside&out of the ASP. And he further intimates that the US position towards the Ct is a fait accompli, so does this mean we shouldn't bother?

9) In a similar vein, @SherryKyama is right to be skeptical & unimpressed w/ the removal of sanctions given the US' historical stance on the ICC, but she overlooks nuances that make the US-ICC relationship so confounding. opiniojuris.org/2021/04/20/icc…

10) How do we square that US has turned over more ICC fugitives than any other state & currently provides rewards for arrest of others? Yes, these moves are self-interested but is it not part of ICC's job to show why cooperation is in a state's interest? Room for progress, no?

11) For his part, @O_Owiso is quite right to shed more light on the racism that permeated the US sanctions. 100% agreed. However, while not diminishing the racism at multiple levels here, choices on who to sanction were less driven by race & more by power/alliances, IMO.

12) To be clear, the issues of power & race are often inextricably intertwined, so not saying race played no or little part. Played a big part. But ponder it this way: had Phakiso been from Jordan, Nigeria, or South Africa, he likely would not have been sanctioned.

13) Conversely, had Phakiso been from Moldova, he likely would have been sanctioned. True, these distinctions may not mean much ultimately, yet at the end of the day, the Trump admin was looking to "make an example" out of easy political targets, not hard ones.

14) Also, one line from @O_Owiso stuck out like a sore thumb: "The IER process was never intended to curtail the ICC’s powers, and any attempts to pervert the process to serve such ends should be resisted." 😳

15) Unless misreading this sentence, it is factually incorrect to assert that the US is trying to "pervert" the IER process to hamstring the Court. Sadly, not only did some States Parties beat them to it, but it is no secret that certain SPs may have pushed for IER for such ends.

16) The symposium could have benefited from the take of someone who has worked closely on US-ICC issues. I applaud that the symposium (apparently) sought to elevate certain voices (esp. from the African continent), but an "inside DC" take would have brought a much-needed angle.

17) To dispel (hopefully :) that this critique is "self-serving", there are many good "inside the beltway" voices working diligently on US-ICC relations that could have also been elevated, like @kristinjpsmith, @RAShoot, @jdakwar, @Tmcbean1, or Veronica Glick, to name a few.

18) Lastly, my hunch is that @rashmi_dharia & I may not agree on much given her (e.g.) "laissez-faire" attitude on the tensions she so aptly describes in her art. I am more solutions orientated & for greater accountability in the ICC commentator class. :) opiniojuris.org/2021/04/22/icc…

19) But one line in her fine article sung to me! "The orders imposing the sanctions, as well as, to an extent, those revoking them, challenge the Court by appropriating the same language tools that are used by critical scholarship." You don't say?!? 😉

*racism

Btw I really screwed up the numbering on this thread! My oversight.

opiniojuris.org/2021/04/19/icc…