ACLU files FOIA request related to Bolton comments on ICC News
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ACLU files FOIA request related to Bolton comments on ICC

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) [advocacy website] filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request [text] on Monday seeking information related to comments made by US National Security Advisor John Bolton on the US policy towards the International Criminal Court (ICC) [official website].

The FOIA request specifically asks for communications from January 20, 2017 to the present, which include:

(1) Any communication concerning the U.S. government’s new policy towards the International Criminal Court as described in National Security Advisor Bolton’s speech on September 10, 2018;
(2) Any legal and policy memoranda concerning the U.S. government’s threat to ban ICC judges and prosecutors from entering the United States, to sanction their funds in the U.S. financial system, and to prosecute them in the U.S. criminal system; and
(3) Any legal and policy memoranda concerning the U.S. government’s threat to sanction any company or state that assists an ICC investigation of Americans.

In a speech on September 10, Bolton threatened to sanction ICC judges and prosecutors if they opened an investigation into allegations of US torture in Afghanistan. Bolton also threatened sanctions against any company or state that assisted the ICC in investigations into Americans. Bolton called the ICC “illegitimate,” “unchecked,” and “dangerous.”

The ACLU called Bolton’s comments a “drastic shift in U.S. policy towards the ICC” and questioned the authority of the Trump administration to sanction the ICC judges and prosecutors. The ACLU also stated that Bolton’s comments on the ICC investigating “acts of aggression” were inaccurate and that the ICC does not have jurisdiction over the crime of aggression for non-members.

The request seeks expedited processing, stating that the records are urgently needed because the policy “could significantly affect accountability by international war crime tribunals and organizations.”

The White House had also published a statement [JURIST report] on September 10 threatening sanctions against ICC judges and prosecutors.

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