President Adama Barrow has told the UNGA The Gambia endorses the work of the International Criminal Court, using the opportunity to call on America to reverse sanctions against the court’s officials.
The court’s Gambian chief prosecutor Fatou Bensouda and at least one of her top aides have seen sanctions rolled out against them by US for ‘targeting Americans’.
President Barrow speaking virtually at the 75th session of the United Nations General Assembly on Thursday said The Gambia approves of the ICC’s work and called on the US to revoke sanctions against the court’s officials.
The president said: “We endorse the work of the International Criminal Court, and call on the United States to revoke the sanctions imposed on the Court and its officials. Respect for the rule of law benefits all democratic states.”
The United States had always insisted the ICC is not qualified to investigate Americans as it is not a member of the court.
The sanctions against Bensouda and Phakiso Mochochoko, the ICC’s director of jurisdiction, complementary and cooperation division, are a reply to the court’s decision to open an inquiry into war crimes committed by all sides in Afghanistan.
