2 h. ago As Orbán quits the ICC, other nations have a choice to make: do we back the rule of law or not? | Steve Crawshaw

There is a principle that even the most powerful leaders must be accountable. Increasingly, that is under threat, but it must be defendedIt was unsurprising that Benjamin Netanyahu praised Viktor Orbán’s “bold and principled” stand, in response to Hungary’s announcement yesterday that it will leave the international criminal court (ICC). More dismaying is that too few governments seem ready to stand up against impunity at a time when, because of Donald Trump, the very existence of the Hague court is under threat.Hungary’s leader described the ICC as “a political forum”; the Israeli prime minister, during his defiant visit to Budapest this week, complained of a “corrupt organisation”. That is all logical enough. Four months ago, the court confirmed an arrest warrant for Netanyahu for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity. He could hardly be expected to praise his own indictment.Steve Crawshaw is the author of Prosecuting the Powerful: War Crimes and the Battle for Justice. H...

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4 h. ago What is the International Criminal Court and how can a member country like Hungary leave?

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has announced his intention to withdraw his country from the International Criminal Court

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19 h. ago Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu dodges war crimes arrest in Hungary visit

Hungarian leader Viktor Orban quits International Criminal Court, refusing to allow arrest of Israeli leader wanted on war crimes accusations because he says it is an unfair 'political' tribunal

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30 h. ago Hungary to pull out of ‘political’ ICC as Netanyahu visits Budapest

Israeli PM, who is wanted by the court, hails Viktor Orbán’s ‘bold and principled’ decision to leave the ‘corrupt’ bodyHungary will leave the international criminal court because it has become “political”, the country’s prime minister, Viktor Orbán, said as he welcomed his Israeli counterpart, Benjamin Netanhayu - the subject of an ICC arrest warrant - to Budapest for an official visit.Standing beside Netanyahu at the start of the four-day visit, Orbàn said on Thursday that Hungary was convinced the “otherwise very important court” had “diminished into a political forum”. Netanyahu hailed “a bold and principled” decision. Continue reading...

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31 h. ago Hungary dramatically quits the International Criminal Court and vows not to arrest Netanyahu during his Budapest visit despite ICC's war crimes arrest warrant

Hungary will withdraw from the International Criminal Court (ICC) and refuse to arrest Benjamin Netanyahu despite the organisation issuing a warrant for the Israeli Prime Minister.

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32 h. ago Hungary to withdraw from International Criminal Court as it hosts Benjamin Netanyahu

The Israeli prime minister, sought under an ICC arrest warrant, arrived in Hungary on Thursday

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37 h. ago Netanyahu to visit Hungary as Orbán vows to defy ICC arrest warrant

Israeli prime minister begins four-day trip after Hungarian counterpart says court ruling would ‘have no effect’Benjamin Netanyahu is expected to begin a four-day official visit to Hungary on Thursday, marking the first time the Israeli prime minister has stepped foot on European soil since the international criminal court issued an arrest warrant for him over allegations of war crimes in Gaza.Hours after the ICC announced the warrants in November, Hungary’s prime minister, Viktor Orbán, made it clear he would defy the court to host Netanyahu, telling reporters that he would “guarantee” the ICC’s ruling would “have no effect in Hungary”. Continue reading...

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37 h. ago Netanyahu visits Hungary as Orbán vows to defy ICC arrest warrant

Israeli prime minister begins four-day trip after Hungarian counterpart says court ruling would ‘have no effect’Benjamin Netanyahu has begun a four-day official visit to Hungary, marking the first time the Israeli prime minister has stepped foot on European soil since the international criminal court issued an arrest warrant for him over allegations of war crimes in Gaza.Hours after the ICC announced the warrants in November, Hungary’s prime minister, Viktor Orbán, made it clear he would defy the court to host Netanyahu, telling reporters that he would “guarantee” the ICC’s ruling would “have no effect in Hungary”. Continue reading...

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9 d. ago Captured Ukrainians convicted on terrorism charges by Russia in what Kyiv called a sham trial

Russia has convicted 23 captured Ukrainians on terrorism charges stemming from the war in Ukraine in a trial that Kyiv denounced as a sham and a violation of international law

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2 w. ago Activist alerts ICC to spyware attack while sharing Libya torture victims’ details

David Yambio, founder of Refugees in Libya, urges international criminal court members to have phones checked A prominent activist in Italy has warned the international criminal court that his mobile phone was under surveillance when he was providing the ICC with confidential information about victims of torture in Libya.A report released on Wednesday by the Citizen Lab at the University of Toronto, which tracks digital surveillance of members of civil society, has confirmed that David Yambio, the founder of an organisation called Refugees in Libya, was targeted by mercenary spyware. The attack occurred at a time when he was in communication with The Hague, he said. At least one attack took place around June 2024, researchers said. Continue reading...

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2 w. ago Duterte’s arrest gives ‘a sense impunity ends’, says Nobel peace prize winner

Maria Ressa said rules-based order ‘can perhaps still exist’ but social media is being used to undermine democracy around the worldThe arrest of Rodrigo Duterte is a welcome sign that the rules-based order continues to hold, the Nobel laureate Maria Ressa has said, even as the global order has been marred by the US “descending into hell” at the hands of the same forces that consumed the Philippines.Ressa’s remarks came after Duterte, the former president of the Philippines, made his first appearance before the international criminal court (ICC) in The Hague, accused of committing crimes against humanity during his brutal “war on drugs”. Continue reading...

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2 w. ago Former Philippines leader Rodrigo Duterte appears at International Criminal Court in The Hague

Lawyer for strongman behind deadly ‘war on drugs’ says his arrest was ‘a kidnapping’

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3 w. ago Rodrigo Duterte appears at ICC hearing in The Hague by video link

Allegations of crimes against humanity laid out against former Philippines president over his deadly ‘war on drugs’Rodrigo Duterte has become the first Asian former leader to appear before the international criminal court, where he stands accused of committing crimes against humanity during his notorious “war on drugs” which is estimated to have killed as many as 30,000 people.The ex-president of the Philippines, who was in office from 2016 to 2022, was arrested in Manila on an ICC warrant early on Tuesday, put on a government-chartered jet hours later, and arrived in The Hague the following day. Continue reading...

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3 w. ago Former Philippines president Rodrigo Duterte appears by video link in Hague accused of crimes against humanity – live

Duterte faces charges over his years-long campaign against drug users and dealers that rights groups say killed tens of thousandsThe people who bought ex-president Duterte to justicePhilippine ex-president Rodrigo Duterte is appearing by video link before judges at the international criminal court.Duterte would follow the proceedings through a video link, a court spokesperson said.To some Duterte’s arrest this week came as a sudden shock. But for years many brave Filipinos, from priests, politicians, pathologists, to relatives of the victims and journalists, have worked tirelessly, in and out of the spotlight, to expose the horrors of the deadly campaign and collect enough evidence to hold Duterte to account. Continue reading...

Politics

3 w. ago Rodrigo Duterte to make first appearance at ICC hearing in the Hague

The court will lay out allegations against the former Philippines president of crimes against humanity over his deadly war on drugsRodrigo Duterte is expected to make his first appearance at the international criminal court (ICC) on Friday, as the former Philippines president faces crimes against humanity charges over his deadly “war on drugs”.The court said in a statement late on Thursday that it “considers it appropriate” for Duterte to appear Friday at 2pm local time (1pm GMT). Continue reading...

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3 w. ago Former Philippines president Rodrigo Duterte being flown to ICC after arrest for 'crimes against humanity'

Duterte could become the first Asian former head of state to go on trial at the court

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3 w. ago What is International Criminal Court, which had the former Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte arrested?

The International Criminal Court has had former Philippine president arrested on a warrant containing charges of murder as a ‘crime against humanity’ over deadly anti-drugs crackdown

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3 w. ago What is the International Criminal Court, which had former Philippine President Duterte arrested?

The International Criminal Court has had former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte arrested on a warrant containing charges of murder as a crime against humanity over deadly anti-drugs crackdowns he oversaw while in office

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3 w. ago Mother of two sons shot in Duterte’s ‘war on drugs’ dares hope for justice

Sarah Celiz among tens of thousands feeling relief that ex-Philippines president will finally face the courtsDuterte flown to The Hague after arrestSarah Celiz wept as she sat at home watching footage from Manila’s main airport on her phone. They were tears of sadness, and of relief.The former Philippines president Rodrigo Duterte, who had just landed in the capital, was surrounded by officials and being taken into custody. The international criminal court had issued an arrest warrant over his bloody “war on drugs”, in which her two sons were among the tens of thousands of people killed in deprived urban areas. Continue reading...

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3 w. ago The Guardian view on Rodrigo Duterte in The Hague: a warning to rogue leaders | Editorial

The extradition of the former president of the Philippines on an ICC warrant is an affirmation of the principles of international justiceAfter his arrest on an international criminal court (ICC) warrant on Tuesday, the former president of the Philippines, Rodrigo Duterte, demonstrated an uncharacteristic concern for due legal process. A petition was unsuccessfully filed to his country’s supreme court to stay his extradition, as lawyers challenged the ICC’s jurisdiction, and pleas were made for any trial to take place in a Philippine court.The relatives of those butchered during Mr Duterte’s brutal and lawless “war on drugs” will struggle to sympathise. Notoriously, many of its victims never got near a courtroom of any description. In 2016, months into a presidency in which thousands of Filipinos suffered summary executions, Mr Duterte readily acknowledged an indiscriminate dimension to the lawless carnage he had unleashed. The deaths of innocents and children, he...

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