Is the ICC being used as a testing ground by the United States

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Bétharram: “We won’t rest” until the Church makes amends
By Clémentine Méténier
Five years after the shocking findings of the Sauvé Commission, another commission documented systemic abuse at the southern French school Notre-Dame-de-Bétharram. Its chair, Jean-Pierre Massias, talks about the commission’s innovative features.
An in-depth interview with Jean-Pierre Massias regarding the report by the Independent Commission of Inquiry into sexual and physical abuse at the Notre-Dame-de-Bétharram school, of which he is the chair. Illustration: a portrait of Jean-Pierre Massias (watercolour) by Benoît Peyrucq, for Justice Info.
Gustavo Petro, Colombia’s former president, has asked the International Criminal Court (ICC) to reopen an investigation into Colombia, just before stepping down from office in early August 2026. What impact will this have on local transitional justice? Photo: Petro, seated at a conference, appears to be waiting for something, smiling with his hands clasped. Why did Petro, just before stepping down, seize the ICC?
By Andrés Bermúdez Liévano
At the last minute, on the day he handed over office to the far-right lawyer Abelardo de la Espriella, Colombian President Gustavo Petro asked the International Criminal Court to re-open its investigation on serious crimes in Colombia. A surprising move, first reported by our correspondent.
Trial over the Alawite massacres: a view of the Palace of Justice in Aleppo (Syria), seen from the street. Alawite massacres trials: verdicts handed down in Aleppo
By Bushra Alzoubi + Karam Amer
Trials on violence committed against the Alawite population on the Syrian coast in March 2025 have concluded in Aleppo (north-west Syria), ten months after the first hearing on November 18, 2025. After four verdicts pronounced on September 17, a further nine were delivered on October 15.
Biodiversity and endangered animal species: what legal remedies are available? Photo: the claws of a Bengal tiger at a zoo in Cuba. COP17: new wave of biodiversity legal challenges coming up
By Benjamin Bibas
As the global extinction of species continues, COP17 on biodiversity opens this October 19 in Yerevan, Armenia. And with climate-related legal challenges on the rise, can judicial action compel States to better fulfil their obligations on biodiversity?
US sanctions against the International Criminal Court (ICC): the court is now facing an ultimatum and has only a short time left. Photo: a montage showing a hand holding a stopwatch (with its thumb on the start/stop button) into which the ICC logo has been placed. US sanctions against the ICC: options for a six-months ultimatum
By Janet H. Anderson
On Friday 9 October hard on the heels of the announcement of the Nobel Peace Prize to a stalwart advocate of international justice, the US declared long-expected full sanctions on the International Criminal Court (ICC). The court and its supporters have been given a six-month ultimatum. But what will they make of it?
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Ten heads of state wanted for international crimes
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Transitional Justice
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ICC: “For the US, this is a testing ground for other levers of influence”
Immunities of State officials: Poland steps up
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Meeting with the families of the missing in Aleppo
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The scandal of victims’ funds in DRC Special focus 10 publications
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Kasai: FONAREV under fire The Kamuina Nsapu armed conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo took place ten years ago. But in Kasai FONAREV, the public body in charge of reparations for victims, is coming increasingly under fire.
FRIVAO: Is collective compensation being used for embezzlement?
Chaos and corruption: investigating the FRIVAO fund in Kisangani
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Special report: ‘Life under sanctions’ (imposed by the US) for staff at the International Criminal Court and NGOs working with the ICC. Illustration: a colourful drawing showing a judge swimming underwater, surrounded by jellyfish. Papers bearing the ICC logo are also submerged. Life under sanctions
11 publications
Illustration showing a concrete mixer truck (with the Lafarge logo printed on it) stopped at a checkpoint manned by several figures dressed in black, armed and wearing balaclavas. A long arm extends from the truck, holding a suitcase filled with banknotes bearing the image of Bashar al-Assad. On the side is an ISIS flag. War and business: Lafarge in the dock
16 publications
At the Lundin trial in Sweden, two former executives of the oil company are on trial for alleged complicity in war crimes committed in Sudan. Illustration: Ian Lundin and Alexandre Schneiter are drowned in a pool of oil. Conflict rages in the background. War and oil: Lundin in the dock
25 publications
Fighting gender-based crimes - Illustration: a crime scene (police banner and numbered exhibits) where the silhouette of a character marked on the ground is filled in with the colors of the LGBTQ+ community's rainbow flag. The Fight Against Gender Crimes
9 publications
What justice for enforced disappearances around the world? © Marina Margarina / Justice Info The disappeared who will never be forgotten
28 publications
Félicien Kabuga, in a wheelchair, seems to be running away from a huge blood-red Félicien Kabuga, the last judgment
16 publications
Illustration mettant en scène des hommes et femmes d'affaire flottant sur un océan déchaîné. Certains semblent confiants et d'autres paniquent. Au fond, un radeau flotte transportant un magistrat en robe (mat symolisant la balance de la justice). Corporations face the rising tide of justice
51 publications
Religious people (in small format) are lined up to confess in turn to the ear of a church member (in large format) who hides one eye while listening with one ear. The Church and its sexual crimes
19 publications
Colonial crimes: a chess game to negotiate reparations, restitution, truth and the duty to remember Hour of reckoning for colonial crimes
50 publications
Massaquoi trial in Liberia The Massaquoi Affair: the Finnish model put to the test
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ICC's Trust Fund for Victims (TFV): a failure The failure of the ICC Victims Fund
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ICC desperately seeking prosecutor
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Transitional Justice: The great Colombian challenge
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Time for the truth in Gambia
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Rwanda, 25 years after the genocide
8 publications
Richard Rogers, a human rights lawyer, answers questions from Thierry Cruvellier (Justice Info) regarding the sanctions imposed by the US government on the International Criminal Court (ICC) and various NGOs. Illustration: portrait of Richard Rogers (watercolour).
“What has changed is who the U.S. consider to be friends or foe”
17 March 2026 by Thierry Cruvellier
The International Criminal Court is undermined by its internal dysfunctions, crises, and contradictions. It is sometimes weakened by its own member states. But the fatal weapon that seems to threaten its very existence is the sanctions imposed by the U.S. government. What are they? What impact have they already had on the institution, its judges and prosecutors, and the NGOs that have worked with it? How has a tool used by human rights activists turned against them? To kick off this special focus, British lawyer Richard Rogers explains the origins and workings of the main sanction’s regime in the field of human rights.
Justice for Syria: what are the various initiatives for justice for Syria around the world, at the national level (in Syria or elsewhere, under universal jurisdiction) or at the international level (via the ICJ and UN bodies)? Image: world map with a photo of Sednaya prison (Syria) seen from the air and a portrait of Bashar al-Assad superimposed on it.
Justice for Syria: who is doing what?
8 December 2025 by Hannah El-Hitami
One year after the fall of Bashar al-Assad, on 7 December 2024, the landscape of justice for grave violations of international law in Syria has transformed. Some transitional justice institutions have been established in Syria. And there have never been so many active Syrian cases under universal jurisdiction. 
Justice for Gaza: what are the various initiatives for justice for Gaza around the world, at the national and international levels (via the ICC, the ICJ, and the UN)? Image: world map with a photo of a completely destroyed street in Gaza, seen from the sky, superimposed on it.
Justice for Gaza: who is doing what?
4 November 2025 by Golnouche K. Barzegar
It’s a battle outside the battlefield, and it is worrying the State of Israel: in January 2025, the Israeli army warned its soldiers about possible arrests when they travel abroad. Since the start of the offensive in Gaza launched after the attack on October 7, 2023, two international courts have been seized: the International Criminal Court, which has issued arrest warrants, and the International Court of Justice, whose decisions have been supported by resolutions of the UN General Assembly. At the same time, the Human Rights Council has set up a commission, which has concluded that a “genocide” is taking place. Finally, complaints have been filed in dozens of national courts, and universal jurisdiction proceedings have been opened around the world.
In Ukraine, the Chernobyl nuclear power station was attacked and damaged by a Russian drone strike. An overview of the situation and a focus on international law in such circumstances. Photo: our correspondent in Ukraine poses, wearing safety gear, beneath the concrete arch.
Inside Chernobyl after a drone attack: what can international law do?
26 June 2026 by Oksana Rekun
On February 14, 2025, a Russian drone struck Ukraine’s Chernobyl nuclear power plant, near the fourth reactor destroyed in 1986. What’s nuclear safety in wartime? Journalist Oksana Rekun went to Chernobyl and asked.
Syria
25 September 2026
Universal Jurisdiction: the case of puzzling Austria
Palestine
7 July 2026
Facing the threat of annexation in Palestine
Philippines
18 May 2026
ICC exposes democratic wounds in Philippines
Dem. Rep. Of Congo
25 August 2026
Kasai: FONAREV under fire
Colombia
15 September 2026
Colombia: how the JEP appeal judges corrected its first historical ruling
Central African Republic
9 October 2026
ICC: what does Said’s judgment mean?

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All our original publications listed in chronological order+

International justice news, according to AFP

23 October 2026 Top EU diplomat offers 'strong support' to ICC during visit 23 October 2026 Benjamin Netanyahu: Israel's longest-serving PM fighting for survival 23 October 2026 Philippines puts bounty on Duterte's fugitive drug-war enforcer 22 October 2026 Zelensky says fresh Russian strikes show 'no change' in Kremlin position 22 October 2026 Trump behind bars... in Tehran propaganda installation 22 October 2026 Targeted by Trump, ICC wins top EU rights prize 22 October 2026 ICC: Delivering justice for the world's worst crimes 22 October 2026 EU prize comes at time of 'unprecedented challenges' for ICC: top judge 22 October 2026 Targeted by Trump, ICC in running for top EU rights prize 22 October 2026 In Israel, Eisenkot tries quiet appeal to oust Netanyahu
+ All AFP dispatches