US President Donald Trump has called on all countries that are members of the International Criminal Court (ICC) to withdraw from the institution, describing it as “out of control.”
Trump made the remarks on Tuesday while addressing the 81st United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York City.
“The United States is equally opposed to the out-of-control institution known as the International Criminal Court,” Trump said.
“I call on all nations that are members of the ICC to officially resign from this rogue institution immediately,” he added.
The ICC prosecutes individuals accused of some of the world’s most serious crimes, including genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has also criticised the court, vowing to dismantle it “brick by brick” and describing it as an “intolerable threat to US sovereignty.”
The Trump administration has imposed sanctions on ICC officials following the court’s issuance of an arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, a close US ally.
Trump said the United States would “never allow US service members or anyone else to be investigated or given show-trials by an anti-American tribunal with no jurisdiction over us.”
The United States is not a member of the ICC and has never ratified the Rome Statute, the treaty that established the court. Israel, Russia and China are also not members.
