# Douglas Murray: The International Criminal Court Is a Sham Canonical: https://brew.new/templates/substack/douglas-murray-the-international-criminal-court-is-a-sham Brand: substack.com Category: general ![Preview of Douglas Murray: The International Criminal Court Is a Sham](https://cdn.brew.new/email-preview-49312c9f589cabbe-tracking_r57jpnrfrcr8n5zppzea1dad6n8g6tca-1791922938398.png) ## Email content Forwarded this email? Subscribe for more The Big ReadTuesday, 10.13.2026View in App Upgrade to Listen Get the whole story. Join now.Douglas Murray: The International Criminal Court Is a Sham Marco Rubio just announced that the United States is sanctioning the International Criminal Court. It’s about time. Douglas Murray argues the ICC has become an obstacle to the very values the free world should be defending. (Illustration by The Free Press) By Douglas MurrayPREVIEW Recent years have seen a flourishing of BS institutions. There is the International Association of Genocide Scholars, an organization that suddenly leaped to prominence last year when it was reactivated in order to accuse Israel of “genocide” in Gaza; there is the International Court of Justice (ICJ), a politicized pseudo-court that seems determined to fast-track that same genocide allegation; there is the United Nations Human Rights Council, whose only standing agenda item devoted to a single country is, yes, about the Jewish state; and the list goes on. But the institution that must win any and all awards for not being what it says on the tin is the International Criminal Court (ICC). Founded in 2002, the ICC has served as a political tool for a quarter century. In the 2000s, European signatories routinely criticized the George W. Bush administration for not signing up the U.S. to be a member of the new institution. But the Bush administration took the view that all Democrat and Republican administrations have taken before and since: No American statesman or soldier should ever find his actions judged under the jurisdiction of a foreign court. American justice is enough. Many Europeans count this as evidence of American barbarism. Why would the U.S. refuse to recognize the jurisdiction of something as noble-sounding as the ICC? The reasons, in the years since, have become quite clear. To take only one notable example, in 2002, when the court was being established, Spanish judge Baltasar Garzón sought to call former secretary of state Henry Kissinger as a witness for an investigation into human rights abuses by South American military dictatorships. Garzón wanted to question Kissinger about what the U.S. government knew about these alleged abuses. Authorities in Britain, where Kissinger was staying at the time, denied the request. But the incident served as an important reminder: If the U.S. ever submitted to a foreign court, international or foreign criminal jurisdiction could and would be used against America and her allies. That is why, at the end of last week, Secretary of State Marco Rubio took American opposition to the ICC to a new level: sanctioning American individuals or businesses that transact with the court. As Rubio said in a statement posted to social media, “We will ban transactions with this rogue court, cutting off their resources and crippling their ability to operate against us because our message is clear: The United States and the American people are not subject to the jurisdiction of this fake ICC.”... Continue reading 'Douglas Murray: The International Criminal Court Is a Sham' Or Become a paid subscriber today to enjoy unlimited access to The Free Press Unlock the world of The Free Press and stay ahead of the curve with our premium news articles. Annual $8.33/month Billed as $100 yearly Save $20! Monthly $10/month Billed monthly SUBSCRIBE NOW ALREADY HAVE AN ACCOUNT? SIGN IN COMMENT LIKE SHARE DOWNLOAD AS A PDF Become a paid subscriber To support our journalism, and unlock all of our investigative stories and provocative commentary about the world as it actually is, subscribe below. UPGRADE TODAY Download on the App Store © 2026 The Free Press 548 Market Street PMB 72296, San Francisco, CA 94104 Unsubscribe [Open and remix this design](https://brew.new/templates/substack/douglas-murray-the-international-criminal-court-is-a-sham) [Browse email designs](https://brew.new/browse/templates)