US President Joe Biden has said that countries receiving American weapons must adhere to international law in a memorandum issued on Thursday night.
The executive order requires foreign governments receiving military aid to provide written assurances that they are abiding by the laws of war.
The move comes after the president admitted Israel had gone “over the top” in its response in Gaza.
Israel is the largest recipient of US military financing.
In the memorandum, President Biden said that “credible and reliable written assurances” must be provided to the US by foreign governments that receive American weapons to ensure they are used in accordance with international law.
As part of this, foreign governments must also provide assurances that US humanitarian aid is being delivered to civilian populations caught in a conflict.
In 2002 Congress passed the “American Servicemembers Protection Act” with bipartisan unanimous support which authorizes the president to "use all means necessary and appropriate to bring about the release of a US or allied person detained or imprisoned by the International Criminal Court (ICC).” It also forbids the US Government from providing support for the ICC, cooperating with its requests, or granting military aid to any state party to the ICC, among other provisions. The Bush administration also pursued Bilateral Immunity Agreements (BIAs), or Article 98 Agreements, in which both countries agree not to extradite current or former government officials, military personnel, or citizens of the other party to the ICC.
Just for anyone who had forgotten the legal stance the US currently takes on the ICC. This current statement is just lip service.
And Biden’s 2021 stance: "the United States continues to object to the ICC’s assertions of jurisdiction over personnel of such non-States Parties as the United States…and will vigorously protect current and former United States personnel from any attempts to exercise such jurisdiction.”
Parts lifted from Harvard Human Rights Professor Kathryn Sikkink’s blog