US State Secy Rubio calls ICC a "stupid organisation" run by "lunatics and crazies"

Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the ASEAN meetings in Manila, Rubio defended the US position after being asked how Washington reconciles its opposition to the ICC with the need for an international mechanism to prosecute war crimes and crimes against humanity.

"We're not members of the ICC. We never signed that treaty, we never joined it," Rubio said. "They somehow claim that they have a right nonetheless to go after non-treaty members and put heads of state and others in jail."

Rubio accused the court of overstepping its authority, saying, "We have lunatics and crazies involved in the ICC that are talking about charging members of the US military, maybe even the President or a future president, with crimes. It's not going to happen."

"If people want to sign on and be a part of that stupid organisation, they can. But we're not going to be a part of it, and they're not going to apply their jurisdiction to Americans," he said.

"We're not going to tolerate it now or in the future, and we've warned them about it repeatedly. And now they're going to see the consequences of ignoring us," Rubio added.

His remarks come days after the US State Department announced a broad campaign aimed at dismantling what it called the ICC's threat to American sovereignty.

In a July 13 media note, the State Department said Secretary Rubio had launched a "whole-of-government response" to "systematically disable the ICC's ability to operate, target American servicemen or officials, or otherwise threaten American sovereignty."

The statement said that the ICC was posing an "intolerable threat to US sovereignty," arguing that it "claims the authority to prosecute and even imprison American servicemen and officials" despite the United States never joining the Rome Statute.

It said the court "previously opened an investigation into US servicemen and intelligence officers" and accused it of seeking to become an "unaccountable global arbiter" and a "supranational enforcement arm of a globalist bureaucracy."

The State Department said "no diplomatic option will be off-limits" in the campaign and outlined measures under consideration, including urging allies and partners to reject the ICC's claimed authority over Americans, increasing scrutiny of countries that continue supporting the court while relying on US assistance, encouraging other non-Rome Statute states to coordinate diplomatic efforts, and imposing additional visa restrictions, travel bans and sanctions on ICC personnel and affiliated organizations. (ANI)