The U.S. State Department said it welcomes Venezuela’s decision against the ‘corrupt and worthless ICC.’
Venezuelan interim leader Delcy Rodriguez has formally initiated Venezuela’s withdrawal from the U.N.’s International Criminal Court, alleging bias against nations in the Global South.
Rodriguez’s foreign minister, Felix Plasencia, said in a statement on social media on July 24 that Caracas has formally notified U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres of its “firm and irrevocable decision.”
“Venezuela considers that the Court’s actions reflect a demonstrated geographical bias, which has disproportionately concentrated its work on African and Latin American countries, to the detriment of the Global South,” Plasencia wrote.
“This pattern reveals an international justice system that, far from being applied equitably, has been instrumentalized to deepen inequalities among peoples and disregard their right to self-determination and sovereignty.”
Under the Rome Statute—the international treaty that established the International Criminal Court—a withdrawal becomes legally effective one year after written notice is received by the U.N. secretary-general.
The U.S. State Department launched a campaign on July 13 to “dismantle the threat posed by the International Criminal Court to U.S. sovereignty.”
The United States, which has never ratified the Rome Statute and is not an International Criminal Court member state, praised Venezuela’s decision.
The United States welcomes “the new Venezuelan government’s partnership on American-led efforts to dismantle the corrupt and worthless ICC [International Criminal Court],” the State Department’s Office of the Spokesperson said in a statement on July 25.
“The so-called court has been ‘investigating’ Nicolas Maduro since 2018 with no result,” the State Department said.
“The ICC has instead wasted its resources on investigating and charging persons from countries that have competent, independent judicial systems and which never submitted to the jurisdiction of the court. This is blatant overreach, political bias and selective enforcement,” it said, referring to the court’s arrest warrants related to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former defense minister Yoav Gallant, and Hamas terrorist leader Mohammed Diab Ibrahim Al-Masri.
The court in March 2020 opened an investigation in Afghanistan that included looking into possible crimes by U.S. military personnel. However, since 2021, it has deprioritized the United States’ role, focusing on alleged crimes committed by Taliban forces and the Afghan government.
Operating out of The Hague, the court was formally established in 2002 to allow any of the member states, the U.N. Security Council, or its prosecutor with allegations of war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide, and crimes of aggression to refer individuals to the court when national courts are unwilling or unable to do so.
By Melanie Sun
