US campaign and new exits deepen International Criminal Court crisis

The United States is urging countries to leave the International Criminal Court as Venezuela and Chad announce withdrawals. The moves deepen the court's crisis but do not halt ongoing investigations into past alleged crimes.

In Short

• Washington is urging allies to quit the court and shun cooperation
• Recent departures expose confidence gaps as the tribunal navigates internal turmoil
• Military-led Sahel governments accuse the institution of bias and external pressure

The International Criminal Court is facing fresh pressure as the United States steps up its campaign against the Hague-based tribunal and more member states announce plans to leave. Venezuela and Chad are the latest countries to say they will quit, taking the number of withdrawals announced in the past year to five, after Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger.

The exits come at a difficult time for the ICC, which is also dealing with a leadership crisis after removing its chief prosecutor. The court, set up under the Rome Statute in 2002, is the court of last resort for prosecuting individuals accused of war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide and the crime of aggression when countries are unable or unwilling to act themselves.

A spokesperson for the US State Department said, "Five countries so far have announced plans to withdraw from the Rome Statute, and we welcome more announcements in the future." ICC spokesperson Oriane Maillet said, "The ICC regrets any decision to depart from the collective effort to end impunity for the most serious international crimes."

In July, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Washington was launching a "sweeping campaign to dismantle the threat posed by the International Criminal Court to US sovereignty". Rubio said the US would press the court's 125 member states to leave, sanction organisations working with the ICC and bar staff from travelling to the United States. The Trump administration has already sanctioned a dozen ICC staff members over warrants issued for senior Israeli officials in connection with the war in Gaza and investigations into US personnel in Afghanistan. The State Department also said the US would call on countries that "enjoy the benefits of the US security umbrella" to reject the ICC.

Chad directly referred to the United States while announcing its withdrawal. Foreign Minister Abdoulaye Sabre Fadoul said that during a phone call with a US official on July 23, "the American side expressed its concerns regarding the functioning of this institution and requested that Chad reconsider" its membership. Four days later, Chad said it would leave the court. Iva Vukuic of Utrecht University said the US campaign would test how strongly countries back the ICC, asking, "Are they willing to defend it if it costs them something real?"

Pressure from Washington is not the only reason countries are leaving. Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger, all led by military juntas, accused the court of selective justice. When they announced their departures last year, the three countries said the ICC had become an "instrument of neocolonial repression in the hands of imperialism". Niger's elected government was overthrown in 2023, after which the junta moved away from longtime partners and built new alliances, including with Russia, whose President Vladimir Putin faces an ICC arrest warrant linked to the war in Ukraine. Mali and Burkina Faso have seen similar shifts. Mel O'Brien of the University of Western Australia said, "These countries are ruled by authoritarian leaders who want to avoid accountability for the harms they are inflicting on their own people."

Criticism of the ICC over its focus on Africa is not new. Burundi became the first country to leave in 2017 after accusing the court of concentrating too much on African conflicts. The ICC had opened an investigation into Burundi earlier that year. Most of the court's early investigations were in African countries, although many of those cases were referred to the ICC by the countries themselves. South Africa and Gambia also said in 2017 that they would quit, but later reversed their decisions. In another example of a change in direction, Hungary announced in 2025 that it would leave the court, but after a new government came to power, parliament voted to remain.

Leaving the ICC does not stop existing investigations into alleged crimes committed while a country was still a member. The Philippines became the second country to leave in 2019 after then President Rodrigo Duterte announced the decision, but an ICC investigation already under way continued because withdrawal is not retroactive. Duterte is now in ICC detention in the Netherlands and is awaiting trial on charges of crimes against humanity over the deadly anti-drug crackdowns he allegedly oversaw while in office. Opening statements are due in November. The court's investigation into possible crimes by Venezuelan security forces under former President Nicols Maduro will also continue despite Venezuela's announcement last month that it will leave. Foreign Minister Flix Plasencia said the ICC had been "instrumentalized to deepen inequalities among peoples and disregard their right to self-determination and sovereignty". Venezuela is currently in the middle of US-backed talks between the ruling party and the opposition following Maduro's capture in January by US forces.

Even as some states move to leave, the court has also added new members. Ukraine joined in 2025 after earlier granting the ICC jurisdiction over crimes on its territory following the start of hostilities with Russia in 2014. Ukraine's ambassador to the Netherlands, Andriy Kostin, said joining the court was "Ukraine's way of saying that accountability for the gravest crimes cannot be optional, and that we intend to help build that system of justice". Together, the latest withdrawals, ongoing investigations and new membership underline the competing pressures now facing the ICC.

With PTI Inputs

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