The Guardian view on the ICC: undermining this court undermines international standards | Editorial

The US and others have criticised the chief prosecutor for seeking arrest warrants for Israeli leaders. The ICC needs support

The international criminal court was born more than two decades ago, largely from the genocides of Rwanda and Yugoslavia, and the contradictory impulses that they inspired: the grim recognition of the worst of human nature and the optimistic determination to address it. More than 120 countries ratified its founding treaty. But the world's superpower - and other major players including Russia, China and India - refused.

The result, almost inevitably, was that it became regarded - in the reported words of one elected official to the chief prosecutor, Karim Khan - as built for Africa and thugs like Putin". In fact, Vladimir Putin's indictment a year ago, applauded by the US and others, was regarded as a gear change for a body that had overwhelmingly charged African leaders and officials.

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