Dutch PM Jetten warns “hands off the ICC” in debut UN speech

Prime minister Rob Jetten gave a fiery address to the United Nations on Thursday, defending the International Criminal Court and the rule of law.

“Hands off the ICC and all those other institutions that protect the international legal order,” he said in his first address at the UN’s annual meeting in New York.

Although Jetten did not call out American president Donald Trump specifically, the speech came after reporting earlier this week that the United States is planning to escalate its fight with the ICC and sanction the institution as a whole as part of its campaign to dismantle the court “brick by brick”.

The White House has already sanctioned 13 staff members, including court president, Japanese Judge Tomoko Akane, over the investigation into alleged Israeli war crimes in Gaza.

“Take, for example, the attempts to undermine the International Criminal Court – a court based in my country, in my city. This undermines the international legal order as a whole. And that affects us all,” Jetten said.

As the court’s host state, the Netherlands is obliged to provide assistance such as cooperation with security, facilitating visas and transporting defendants and witnesses.

He also called for Russia to be held accountable for the war in Ukraine. “In this conflict, Ukraine has no choice but to defend itself,” said Jetten. “But Russia chooses to wage war day after day,” he said.