The International Criminal Court (ICC) has become a tool of Western influence that selectively targets countries of the Global South while shielding European interests and ignoring crimes in Ukraine, international legal analyst and academic Alexandre Guerreiro has said. He accused the tribunal of applying double standards rather than delivering universal justice.
Criticism of the ICC has intensified in recent months amid growing accusations of political bias and selective justice. Venezuela, Chad, Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger have moved to withdraw, accusing the court of serving Western interests and engaging in “neocolonial repression.”
In an interview with RT on Thursday, Guerreiro argued that the court had abandoned its original purpose as an independent institution capable of holding perpetrators accountable regardless of nationality, and has become increasingly politicized and dominated by European powers.
“In practice, what we have is a court that serves European interests, colonialist interests,” he said, arguing that the tribunal is used to pressure Global South nations while avoiding similar scrutiny of European countries.
Guerreiro pointed to the court’s handling of cases involving Afghanistan, Iraq and Kenya, arguing that political interference had repeatedly undermined the principles of impartial justice.
He also accused the ICC of ignoring alleged crimes in Ukraine, including the deadly May 2014 Odessa clashes between Ukrainian nationalists and opponents of the Western-backed coup in Kiev, as well as the sniper shootings during the preceding Maidan unrest.
“This is not justice,” he said, arguing that the court only pursues cases that serve the interests of the current Ukrainian authorities and the Western bloc as a whole.
The remarks come days after Washington imposed sweeping new sanctions on the ICC, accusing it of overstepping its jurisdiction in cases involving American and Israeli nationals. The court issued arrest warrants in 2024 for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant over alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.
Meanwhile, the ICC’s investigation into alleged war crimes by American forces in Afghanistan has produced no criminal charges against US personnel.
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