{"id":767187,"date":"2026-07-16T23:10:10","date_gmt":"2026-07-16T23:10:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/767187\/"},"modified":"2026-07-16T23:10:10","modified_gmt":"2026-07-16T23:10:10","slug":"ilhan-omar-renews-push-for-us-to-join-icc-amid-trump-pressure-courts-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/767187\/","title":{"rendered":"Ilhan Omar renews push for US to join ICC amid Trump pressure | Courts News"},"content":{"rendered":"

The resolution comes days after US Secretary of State Marco Rubio pledged to \u2018dismantle\u2019 the international court.<\/p>\n

United States Representative Ilhan Omar has pushed back against President Donald Trump\u2019s efforts to \u201cdismantle\u201d the International Criminal Court (ICC), instead introducing a resolution calling on the country to join the tribunal.<\/p>\n

The move came just days after Secretary of State Marco Rubio pledged to \u201cdismantle the ICC<\/a> \u2014 brick by brick, if necessary\u201d, using \u201call the tools at our government\u2019s disposal\u201d.<\/p>\n

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Omar\u2019s resolution<\/a>, introduced on Wednesday, calls on the US to join the ICC by ratifying the Rome Statute, the court\u2019s founding document.<\/p>\n

The resolution would also put pressure on the Trump administration to lift the sanctions and visa restrictions it has placed on court officials.<\/p>\n

Omar, a former child refugee from Somalia, argued in a statement this week that joining the court would be a step towards fortifying the rule of law around the world.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we truly believe in human rights and the rule of law, we should strengthen international justice \u2014 not undermine it,\u201d Omar said. \u201cThe United States should lead by example and show that no one is above the law.\u201d<\/p>\n

But the Trump administration has lashed out at the ICC for its investigations of US and Israeli personnel.<\/p>\n

Neither the US nor Israel is a signatory to the Rome Statute, and neither recognises the court\u2019s authority. But both countries have been accused of human rights abuses in countries that are ICC member states.<\/p>\n

The ICC, for instance, has investigated Israel over war crimes in Gaza, issuing arrest warrants against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant in November 2024.<\/p>\n

Multiple experts, including at the United Nations, have concluded that Israel\u2019s war on Gaza was a genocide against Palestinians.<\/p>\n

The US, meanwhile, has been investigated for war crimes committed in Afghanistan following the 2001 invasion, as well as at alleged \u201cblack sites\u201d where prisoners were held.<\/p>\n

During his first term and continuing into his second, Trump has taken action against the ICC and its officials to penalise those involved in such investigations.<\/p>\n

Over the past year, multiple ICC prosecutors and judges have faced sanctions, as well as\u00a0rights groups<\/a> that have provided evidence in court.<\/p>\n

On Monday, Rubio took things further, accusing the court in a video statement of \u201cwaging a war against our country, not with bullets or missiles, but with statutes, compacts and the force of so-called international law\u201d.<\/p>\n

The State Department announced a \u201cwhole-of-government response\u201d to weaken the court, saying the administration would work to \u201csystematically disable\u201d it.<\/p>\n

Steps under consideration include appealing to countries that partner with the US military and law enforcement to \u201creject the ICC\u2019s purported authority to prosecute American officials and servicemen\u201d.<\/p>\n

The announcement also suggested \u201cincreased scrutiny of nations that refuse to reject the ICC\u2019s false authority while relying on US assistance\u201d, as well as \u201cincreased sanctions\u201d and travel bans for people and organisations affiliated with the court.<\/p>\n

Trump first sanctioned court officials in 2020 over the Afghanistan investigation, before former President Joe Biden lifted the measures.<\/p>\n

On Monday, Omar criticised Rubio\u2019s announcement as \u201creckless and dangerous\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have seen firsthand that impunity breeds more violence,\u201d she wrote, voicing her support for the court\u2019s work. \u201cThe ICC is a crucial tool for justice when victims have nowhere else to turn.\u201d<\/p>\n

The resolution comes as two US advocacy groups sue the Trump administration, arguing that the president\u2019s sanctions have forced them to stop their constitutionally protected work.<\/p>\n

Both groups have offered support for the court\u2019s investigation into alleged Israeli war crimes in occupied Palestinian territory. They say their activity is protected under the First Amendment of the US Constitution.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The resolution comes days after US Secretary of State Marco Rubio pledged to \u2018dismantle\u2019 the international court. United…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":767188,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[23,2302,12,2420,65741,803,3,2485,111,21,19,22,20,25,24],"class_list":["post-767187","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-united-states","tag-america","tag-courts","tag-donald-trump","tag-government","tag-icc","tag-israel","tag-news","tag-palestine","tag-politics","tag-united-states","tag-united-states-of-america","tag-unitedstates","tag-unitedstatesofamerica","tag-us","tag-usa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/767187","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=767187"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/767187\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/767188"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=767187"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=767187"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=767187"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}