U.S. revokes Fatou Bensouda’s visa over probe into Afghanistan ‘war crimes’

The United States of America has on Friday, 5^th April, 2019 announced their intention to revoke the visa of Fatou Bensouda, a top prosecutor at the International Criminal Court (ICC) who have insisted on probing into possible war crimes by United States soldiers in Afghanistan despite warnings from the United State urge her to stop the probe.

The Office of the Prosecutor of the ICC made a comment on the issue by stating on Friday thus, “What we can confirm is that the US authorities have revoked the prosecutor’s visa for entry into the US.”

In response to the United States decision to revoke Fatou Bensouda visa, her office released a statement saying, “That under the Rome statute governing the tribunal — which was adopted in 2002 — she had an “independent and impartial mandate” to pursue allegations of war crimes.”

They also added that, “The prosecutor and her office will continue to undertake that statutory duty with utmost commitment and professionalism, without fear or favour.”

It has been reported that on 15^th March, 2019, the  United States Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, has warned Fatou Bensouda and other ICC officials that they will be restricted from entering into the United States if they fail to heed the demands of the United State requesting a halt to the probe.

Quoting Mike Pompeo, he stated on 15^th March, 2019 that, “If you’re responsible for the proposed ICC investigation of U.S. personnel in connection with the situation in Afghanistan you should not assume that you still have, or will get, a visa or that you will be permitted to enter the United States.”

In spite of the revocation, the prosecutor’s office has stated that Fatou Bensouda would still be able to enter the United Nations in New York to continue her regular briefings to the UN Security Council on several investigations her officer has been handling.

Fatou Bensouda, aged 58, a Gambian has been the chief prosecutor at the ICC since 2012. She asked ICC judges in November 2017 for authorisation to open an investigation into alleged war crimes in Afghanistan by the Taliban, Afghan government forces and international forces, led by the U.S. military.

The ICC has however been contemplating on whether to launch a full-scale probe into the matter. The U.S. is not a signatory to the 2002 statute, and has criticized its composition and conduct of the ICC for years.

The court has also suffer criticism  from several African countries in the past which have accused the court for targeting Africans, a claim the court denied, especially after achieving many convictions in the Bosnian war. Burundi became the first country in history to successfully pull out of the ICC in October 2017. The Gambia, which Fatou Bensouda is a citizen and South Africa had once applied to withdraw their membership from the ICC but have since abandoned the move.