The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, today said several U.S. senators are “blatantly violating international law” by sending a letter to International Criminal Court (ICC) chief prosecutor Karim Khan threatening to take action against him and his staff if the ICCA issues international arrest warrants against Israeli officials.
The letter, signed by 12 GOP senators, including Tom Cotton of Arkansas, Florida’s Marco Rubio, and Ted Cruz of Texas, told Khan that “[if you] target Israel […] we will target you.” The lawmakers told Khan they would “sanction your employees and associates, and bar you and your families from the United States” if he issues warrants for the arrest of Israeli officials for their roles in war crimes and genocide in Gaza.
In a statement, CAIR Deputy Director Edward Ahmed Mitchell said:
“We strongly condemn these senators for blatantly violating international law by threatening the International Criminal Court in order to protect the Israeli government from accountability. If these lawless senators had threatened a judge or prosecutor here in America in this way, they would face charges of obstruction of justice. It’s just as illegal under international law to interfere with the work of the ICC.”
“Threatening international bodies like the ICC is the behavior of lawless states, which is precisely what our government will become if it punishes an international body for daring to uphold international law. We urge the Senate to condemn this letter, and we urge the Biden administration to do the same.”
He noted that earlier today, CAIR called on President Biden to respond to the start of the Israeli government’s ethnic cleansing of Rafah by enforcing his “red line,” suspending military aid, and demanding an end to the genocide.
SEE: CAIR Calls on Biden to Enforce ‘Red Line’ After Israel Begins Ethnically Cleansing Eastern Rafah
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CONTACT: CAIR National Deputy Director Edward Ahmed Mitchell, 404-285-9530, e-Mitchell@cair.com; CAIR National Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper, 202-744-7726, ihooper@cair.com; CAIR National Communications Manager Ismail Allison, 202-770-6280, iallison@cair.com