EU foreign policy chief calls for protection of ICC amid 'immense pressure'

EU Foreign Policy Chief Kaja Kallas called Monday for the International Criminal Court (ICC) to be protected, saying it is under "immense pressure" and warning that pressure on the court and its judges raises questions about commitment to the international legal order.

"First, we defend the mechanisms we already have to uphold International Humanitarian Law, domestic courts as well as international courts, the International Court of Justice and the International Criminal Court, the ICC," she said at a UN General Assembly side event on humanitarian diplomacy and international humanitarian law.

Kallas said accountability was a key part of upholding international humanitarian law.

"Contrary to what should be happening, the ICC is now under immense pressure," Kallas said.

She said pressure on the ICC and its judges was not only about the institution itself, but also raised questions about commitment to the international legal order established in the aftermath of World War II.

"And let us not forget, the ICC is the world's promise that victims of the gravest international crimes will not be forgotten because accountability has become politically inconvenient. We must protect it," she said.

Kallas said international law was not the main problem, arguing that "impunity breeds impunity."

She outlined three ways to strengthen accountability: defending existing judicial mechanisms, creating new ones where existing mechanisms fall short, and ensuring that legal cases can be properly built.

Kallas cited the Nuremberg and Tokyo trials, as well as tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda, and the Special Tribunal for the Crime of Aggression against Ukraine as examples of mechanisms established to pursue accountability.

She also highlighted EU-backed efforts to document alleged war crimes in Syria and a UN-led investigation into Afghanistan.

In Gaza, Kallas said it was essential to preserve evidence of potential war crimes as efforts to clear rubble begin.

"Be it in Syria, Afghanistan, Gaza, or anywhere in conflict, accountability cannot be selective or else the entire system is called into question," she said.