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I listened patiently to President Donald Trump’s speech before the UN General Assembly yesterday. One part that particularly disturbed me was his attack on the International Criminal Court (ICC). He called it an anti-American tribunal, declared that the United States would never allow its service members to be investigated by it, and urged all ICC member states to withdraw from the institution.
I could not help thinking of the ongoing ICC proceedings involving former Philippine President Rodrigo Roa Duterte.
Whatever our political sympathies, the fundamental question is this: Should any head of state, president, or military commander be beyond accountability for the exercise of power, especially when that power involves decisions over human life and death?
The ICC is not an organ of the United Nations, but an independent international court established under the Rome Statute to prosecute genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, and the crime of aggression. Its mandate is to help ensure that even those who wield the highest political and military authority can be held accountable for serious international crimes.
The ICC proceedings against former President Duterte, whose trial is scheduled to begin on November 30, bring this question very close to home. He is entitled to the presumption of innocence and to a fair trial. The same principle of accountability, however, raises questions about the actions of leaders everywhere, including those of the most powerful nations.
There is something deeply ironic about a president addressing the United Nations while urging its member states to abandon an international institution established to address some of the gravest crimes against humanity. It is especially striking when one recalls the central role the United States played in the founding of the United Nations itself.
Trump’s remarks raise a fundamental question about the future of international justice: Can a system of accountability function when powerful states reject the authority of institutions that may scrutinize their own actions?
The question is not whether the ICC is beyond criticism. Like every institution entrusted with the administration of justice, it must itself be accountable, impartial, and faithful to due process.
The deeper question is whether the international community can sustain a system of justice in which the same standards apply to the powerful and the powerless alike.
