BREAKING: ICC Asked to Investigate Biden and Blinken Over War Crimes Allegations
It's the first time a US-based organization has asked the court to probe a former president for complicity in alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity.
For the first time ever, a US-based organization has formally asked the International Criminal Court to investigate a former US president for possible complicity in war crimes and crimes against humanity.
The 172-page request submitted by the Democracy for the Arab World Now (DAWN) alleges several figures – including former President Biden, former Secretary of State Antony Blinken, and former Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin – aided and abetted Israeli war crimes in Gaza.
“This case might face political pushback, but that doesn’t change the message it sends: impunity isn’t a given. If the rule of law is supposed to mean anything, it has to apply across the board – not just to our enemies, but to our friends, and yes, to ourselves,” war crimes prosecutor and DAWN board member Reed Brody told Zeteo.
“We’re at a turning point. The question is whether the ICC and international law will be … more casualties buried under the rubble of Gaza.”
‘Ignored Grotesque Crimes’
DAWN’s filing, known as an Article 15 communication, details how the US officials provided ceaseless military and diplomatic support to Israel despite being aware that its aid was being used to commit the type of alleged war crimes for which the ICC issued warrants against Israeli leaders, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant. Accordingly, DAWN alleges that US officials meet the legal standard for “aiding and abetting” such crimes.
Such US support has included at least $17.9 billion of weapons transfers, intelligence sharing, and targeting assistance – and the US abstaining from, voting against, and vetoing several UN resolutions calling for a ceasefire and hostage deal or increased humanitarian aid over the course of 15 months. It’s also included repeatedly sending weapons to Israel without congressional review, including weapons that were used in alleged war crimes like the killing of Hind Rajab.
“By continuously and unconditionally providing Political Support and Military Support to Israel while being fully aware of the specific crimes committed by Netanyahu, Gallant and their subordinates, President Biden, Secretary Blinken and Secretary Austin contributed intentionally to the commission of those crimes while at least knowing the intention of the group to commit the Israeli Crimes, if not aiming of furthering such criminal activity,” the filing reads.
Sarah Leah Whitson, executive director of DAWN, added in a statement: “Not only did Biden, Blinken, and Secretary Austin ignore and justify the overwhelming evidence of Israel’s grotesque and deliberate crimes, overruling their own staff recommendations to halt weapons transfers to Israel, they doubled down by providing Israel with unconditional military and political support to ensure it could carry out its atrocities.”
The Biden administration repeatedly defended its policy and, when pressed, often defaulted to its line that “Israel has a right to defend itself.” It would claim that no civilian loss was acceptable and that the administration was “pushing” its “partners in Israel” to improve their conduct. But it took almost no tangible steps to increase the pressure on Israel.
For example, Biden’s State Department in May admitted that Israel had “likely” used US arms in violation of international law – but announced no policy change. It instead emphasized “that a country’s overall commitment” to international law “is not necessarily disproven by individual violations, so long as that country is taking appropriate steps to investigate and, where appropriate, determine accountability.”
DAWN’s filing also named other Biden officials, including former national security adviser Jake Sullivan and former Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, as individuals to look into for possible culpability with Israel's war crimes.
DAWN filed the request last month, on the same day the ceasefire took effect, but it was made public for the first time on Monday. ICC-registered lawyers and war crimes experts supported it.
The US, like Israel, is not a member of the ICC, but DAWN argues the court has jurisdiction, citing the ICC’s ongoing investigation into possible violations of the Rome Statute in Palestine.
Mounting Evidence
DAWN’s historic filling joins a string of legal actions taken in response to the US-backed Israeli genocide in Gaza. In December, Palestinians and Palestinian-Americans filed a federal lawsuit against Blinken, accusing him and his department at the time of failing to implement the Leahy Law, which prohibits the US from sending military aid to foreign security forces committing gross violations of human rights.
Several nations, including Spain, Ireland, and Belgium, joined a South Africa-led International Court of Justice Case accusing Israel of genocide. The ICJ had already ordered Israel to prevent acts of genocide (which Israel has since continued to flout) while the case proceeds.
Last year, a group of human rights organizations, residents of Gaza, and US citizens with family impacted by Israel’s military assault sued Biden, Blinken, and Austin for failing to “prevent an unfolding genocide.” While a federal judge ruled the court did not have jurisdiction, he was critical of the Biden administration, saying it was “plausible" that Israel’s conduct amounted to genocide and urging the White House “to examine the results of their unflagging support of the military siege against the Palestinians in Gaza.”
In its request, DAWN also drew attention to ongoing dangers in a statement, pointing to President Donald Trump’s executive order for sanctions against ICC officials and his proposed plan to forcibly displace all Palestinians from Gaza. The moves, DAWN says, would also subject Trump to liability for “obstruction of justice” as well as “war crimes and the crime of aggression,” and would also merit an ICC investigation.
“This filing is a message to our fellow Americans: our government has been complicit in genocide, and we all bear a responsibility to confront that reality and hold our officials accountable,” Raed Jarrar, advocacy director of DAWN, told Zeteo. “This is about more than Palestine; this is about whether we, as Americans, accept a system where our leaders can facilitate mass atrocities without consequences.”
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It's about time.
Trump just sent bunker busters to Israel and is openly proposing ethnic cleansing of Gaza . He will need the same examination, both for Gaza and Ukraine soon.