“Use your legal advisors”: Nobel Peace Prize laureate Navi Pillay slams Donald Trump’s “illegal” sanctions against the ICC

Nobel Peace Prize laureate Navi Pillay on Wednesday sharply criticized Donald Trump's "illegal" sanctions against the International Criminal Court (ICC), saying the US president needed a lesson in international law. In an interview with AFP, Navi Pillay also declared that the announcement of American sanctions against the ICC almost immediately after the awarding of his Nobel Prize was not a coincidence, seeing it as a “reaction to the fact that the prize was not awarded to President Trump”.

Asked what message she wanted to send to the American president, the 85-year-old judge replied: “Call on your legal advisers to explain to you what international law is (...) and why it is illegal to interfere in the affairs of an independent international court.” The United States on Friday announced sanctions against the ICC aimed at paralyzing the daily operations of the court, which tries individuals for war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide.

The Trump administration has vowed to dismantle the court "brick by brick", angered that the judges issued an arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for alleged crimes committed in Gaza. Navi Pillay noted that previous US administrations had welcomed the ICC's arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin, saying: "It's selectivity, it's double standards, and it's unacceptable."

These sanctions, which will undermine the Court's technological infrastructure and banking operations, will come into force in six months. Navi Pillay also hit back at Israeli officials who reacted with outrage to her Nobel Prize in connection with her chairmanship of the United Nations Independent International Commission of Inquiry (COI), which concluded last year that genocide was underway in Gaza. Benjamin Netanyahu called her a “fanatic,” while the Israeli Foreign Ministry said Nazi propagandist Joseph Goebbels must be “clapping from hell” at the announcement of her award. “I find this very hurtful and insulting,” reacted Navi Pillay.

“Goebbels had blood on his hands. He is responsible for the deaths of thousands of people. Not just Jews, but also people of color like me,” she added. For the winner, there is currently little political will to arrest Benjamin Netanyahu so that he can respond to the ICC's accusations, and one day appear there. “But my whole life I've seen people overcome difficulties, so I'm confident it will happen eventually,” she said.

Navi Pillay said she was still digesting the news of the Nobel award. She found it hard to believe at first, “because they award their prizes to very few women, a glaring inequality in practice until now.” At 85, she fears she will no longer be able to travel all over the world to extol the merits of international justice. “I think my age will hold me back somewhat. I can no longer be as active as before,” she said, recalling that she visited 79 countries when she was United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.