As I reported in a previous post, the trials at Nuremberg and Tokyo after World War II were essentially victor’s justice: the courts were organized by the victors and went only after people on the losing side. Outside of these trials, individual countries have tried their own military personnel for war crimes committed during World War II.

Another attempt at an international court of justice came in 1993, when the United Nations created an ad hoc tribunal to prosecute war crimes committed during the breakup of Yugoslavia. This tribunal operated until 2017, indicting 161 people.

The International Criminal Court (ICC)

The most recent attempt, and the organization we have today, is the International Criminal Court (ICC), which was established in 2002; its first trials began in 2009. Of the world’s 195 countries, 125 are members of the Court. Significantly, the most powerful states, including the United States, Russia, China, India, and Israel, have not joined the ICC and do not submit to its jurisdiction. Other non-joiners are the wealthiest of the predominantly Muslim nations—Saudi Arabia, Iran, Iraq, Qatar, Syria, Yemen, Libya, Egypt, Pakistan, Turkey, and Indonesia.

After several hours of struggling with the ICC website, I calculated that they have issued warrants for 50 individuals. Here are the totals:

	African	Other Nationalities
Indicted, at large	9	11
In Custody	2	3
Convicted	16
Acquitted	4
Deceased, case dropped	5
Insufficient evidence	7
Under Investigation	1	5

In other words, 35 of the 50 indicted were from African countries. Could it be that Africans have committed most of the world’s war crimes? Or that those countries aren’t powerful enough to put a finger—maybe a whole fist—on the scales of justice?

Of the non-African suspects at large, six are Russians wanted for war crimes committed in Ukraine. Vladimir Putin is at the top of that list. Two are Israelis: Binyamin Netanyahu and former defense minister Yoav Gallant. The remaining three are two Russians and one Ossetian wanted for crimes in Georgia.

Are there reasons that no Americans have been charged with war crimes? Crimes such as, for example, our government lying us into the 2003 invasion of Iraq, a country that never attacked us, which led to anywhere from 150,000 to over a million deaths? This notable absence from the list is not because the United States hasn’t joined the ICC; Russia hasn’t joined either and the court nevertheless indicted Putin.

And why hasn’t the ICC gone after the Saudi government for its innumerable war crimes against civilians in Yemen, crimes aided and abetted by the United States military? Perhaps the court veered off track when it hit an oil slick.

Why has the ICC indicted two Israelis and one Palestinian regarding the genocide in Gaza, but kept silent about the United States government’s support for this war under both the Biden and Trump presidencies? Why has it said nothing about the Trump regime’s unprovoked war on Iran, or its continuous attacks on small boats in international waters?

Closer to Home

Over the years I’ve learned not to expect much from politicians. As my grandfather frequently declared in his heavy Yiddish accent, they’re all “crooks und hooligans.” But most of us keep trying, pinning our hopes on the next election, willing ourselves to believe the sales pitch.

In 2005 my home town elected a new mayor, one who promised economic and social justice. I don’t know how successful Mr. Mamdani will be with his economic proposals. However, he got under my skin by vowing to arrest Netanyahu for war crimes if the Israeli prime minister came to New York, then admitting he had no legal authority to do so—and then holding cordial meetings with Trump to discuss real estate development and zoning laws.

Under normal circumstances it makes sense for a mayor to work with the president. But these aren’t normal circumstances. In addition to being an adjudicated felon, inveterate liar, and kleptocrat, Trump is a war criminal, and I don’t need the ICC to tell me so. I would sooner do business with a scorpion.