Father Shay Cullen
The peace and security of all people depends on the establishment and implementation of a strong rule of law in all nations. Otherwise, chaos and atrocities of all kinds—including war crimes—will prevail, like what is happening in a number of countries.
There are currently over 20 permanent and active international tribunals operating globally, and the international rule of law is upheld, in great part, by the International Criminal Court [ICC].
The ICC was established on 1 July 2002, after 60 countries ratified its founding treaty, the Rome Statute. The treaty itself was adopted by 120 nations during the Rome Conference on 17 July 1998. The court was created as a permanent judicial body to address several critical gaps in global justice, so as to end the impunity that heads of state or government and war criminals sometimes hide behind and go beyond the reach of justice.
They had become so powerful and beyond rebuke in their own countries that courts there would be incapable or unwilling to prosecute them for the atrocities they committed.
Before the ICC, the United Nations had to create slow and temporary ad hoc courts to handle specific cases, such as the Nuremberg trials after World War II, or the 1990s tribunals for Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia. The ICC was formed to serve as a permanent, standing institution to hold leaders accused of crimes against humanity or war crimes to account.
The ICC was formed to serve as a permanent, standing institution to hold leaders accused of crimes against humanity or war crimes to account
Based in The Hague, the Netherlands, the court operates to send a clear message to political and military leaders that crimes against humanity, or war and aggression, will not be tolerated.
Severe rhetoric
According to a report in the Guardian newspaper, renowned for its fierce independent reporting, United States president, Donald Trump, has repeatedly used severe rhetoric on Iran, threatening to wipe it “off the face of this Earth,” and saying a “whole civilisation will die” if Tehran attempted to assassinate him or refused to comply with Washington’s demands.
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In late March and early April, Trump issued an ultimatum to Iran, demanding that it reopen the Strait of Hormuz. He also threatened a “complete demolition” of Iran’s bridges, power plants, and desalination facilities, warning on April 7 that the US would bomb the country “back to the Stone Age.”
He eventually postponed the strikes on civilian infrastructure, but has resumed air strikes across Iran. If he strikes civilian infrastructure, the president himself and members of his administration could be prosecuted for war crimes or crimes against humanity, especially once they’re out of office.
Under international law, the general targeting of purely civilian infrastructure like power plants, bridges and water systems is prohibited and typically constitutes a war crime
Under international law, the general targeting of purely civilian infrastructure like power plants, bridges and water systems is prohibited and typically constitutes a war crime. However, there are exceptions to whether a specific strike is legally classified as a war crime, depending on strict criteria regarding military necessity, dual-use capabilities, and proportionality.
Hitting a power plant or water purification facility would cause civilian deaths or severe disease that would lack proportionality and be classified as a war crime. Such actions are fraught with severe repercussions for perpetrators like being branded a war criminal and charged before the ICC or other international tribunals.
As threats of massive destruction of civilian infrastructure mounted and repeated, they drew a response from numerous lawmakers, international law experts, humanitarian groups, and retired military lawyers. They have all publicly warned Trump that targeting civilian infrastructure could constitute a war crime. For example, Massachusetts representive, Seth Moulton, told MSNBC that “bombing civilian power infrastructure is a war crime,” directly challenging Trump’s assertions that he was “not at all” concerned about potential war crimes.
More than 100 US-based legal experts and international practitioners signed a joint letter, published in the Just Security policy journal, that warned that Trump’s threats to destroy infrastructure that are indispensable to civilian survival—leaving a nation in a condition where it “could literally never rebuild”—would entail war crimes if implemented.
This criticism, perhaps, encouraged the president to renew his rhetoric against any such legal move to hold him accountable before the ICC, whether in office or not.
Leaders who feel they are criticised can retaliate. This writer was charged in a court for calling on a Davao City leader to stop the killing of street youth and human rights workers. This writer fought this legal battle for a year and ultimately won when the mayor withdrew the charges
Awaiting trial
Former president, Rodrigo Duterte, is detained in The Hague as he awaits trial for his alleged crimes against humanity for his so-called war on drugs during his term, in which as many as 30,000 people were allegedly shot dead by his “death squads” that included police officers and vigilantes, many of whom were rewarded.
Leaders who feel they are criticised can retaliate. This writer was charged in a court for calling on a Davao City leader to stop the killing of street youth and human rights workers. This writer fought this legal battle for a year and ultimately won when the mayor withdrew the charges.
In 2024, the ICC issued arrest warrants for Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and former defense chief, Yoav Gallant, for crimes against humanity for their relentless attacks against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank in retaliation for Hamas’ war-sparking attacks in southern Israel on 7 October 2023, that left at least 1,200 Israelis dead.
As of July 2026, at least 73,250 and 1,109 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza and the Israeli-occupied West Bank since then. Their long-term plan, it seems, is to occupy and control all of the Palestinian territories and eliminate or deport the Palestinians. There are approximately 5.56 million Palestinians living in those territories.
Another tactic used by the US is imposing sanctions on ICC prosecutors and judges, like blocking credit cards, and blocking them from banking and online platforms
The US was not pleased when, in 2020, the ICC opened an investigation into alleged crimes by American forces in Afghanistan and in “CIA [Central Intelligence Agency] black sites” in Europe. That investigation, now dormant, had already prompted sanctions against former ICC prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda.
On July 13, the Trump administration launched a “diplomatic campaign” against the ICC as an institution, led by US secretary of state, Marco Rubio.
“As we speak, the ICC and its friends are waging war against our country,” Rubio claimed. “Not with bullets and missiles, but with statutes and compacts and the force of so-called international law.”
We will use “all the tools at our government’s disposal,” he added, “working beside every ally with whom we can make common cause. We will dismantle the ICC.”
The Trump administration insists the ICC has “no jurisdiction over US persons—anywhere in the world.” It intends to persuade other nations to withdraw their support from the international court under threat of cancellation of aid if they don’t.
Another tactic used by the US is imposing sanctions on ICC prosecutors and judges, like blocking credit cards, and blocking them from banking and online platforms. It’s like a “financial death penalty,” one official said. Even an international travel ban on ICC prosecutors and judges is being suggested——all these sanctions, just for doing their jobs.
In June 2026, sanctioned ICC judges, Kimberly Prost of Canada, Solomy Balungi Bossa of Uganda, and Reine Alapini-Gansou of Benin filed a lawsuit in a Manhattan federal court against the Trump administration. They argued that the US executive orders are unlawful, abuse of national emergency powers, and exert illicit, extrajudicial pressure designed to coerce and punish judges for their independent judicial decisions.
We hope the rule of law will prevail everywhere.
Father Shay Cullen
Preda.org
