International Criminal Court Has No Jurisdiction Over ISIS Leaders' Crimes; ISIS Destroys US Food Aid To Refugees

ISIS leaders accused of committing genocide and “crimes of unspeakable cruelty” will unlikely be prosecuted in the International Criminal Court. The ICC’s chief prosecutor said although there is mounting evidence in Iraq and Syria, the chances of the group’s leaders being investigated are slim.

Fatou Bensouda said in a statement that crimes like mass executions, rape, sexual slavery, torture and forced recruitment of children and genocide were being attributed to the terror group. However, while the ICC had jurisdiction over crimes committed by fighters who are nationals of member states, it can’t prosecute ISIS leaders since they appear to be from Iraq and Syria, which are non-members of ICC.

“At this stage, the prospects of my office investigating and prosecuting those most responsible, within the leadership of ISIS, appear limited,” said Bensouda. Nevertheless, the court could exercise “personal jurisdiction” over citizens of member states.

The ICC chief prosecutor said the court had received reports that thousands of citizens from member states have joined ISIS. Bensouda believes some of the individuals may have been involved in war crimes and crimes against humanity. She issued a statement after she was repeatedly asked if ICC could prosecute ISIS crimes.

ISIS has control of wide areas in the northern and western parts of Iraq in 2014 and a large part of Syria four years into the nation’s civil war. However, the extremists have since lost ground due to the continued Iraqi government offensive.

Bensouda has called on nations around the world to renew their commitment in finding ways to bring the perpetrators to justice. She said the international community has pledged that such “appalling crimes” will not go unpunished.

Meanwhile, ISIS militants have reportedly burned crates of food donations from the U.S. intended for Syrian refugees. ISIS has allegedly released photos of boxes of halal chicken being burned, reports The Independent.

ISIS militants stopped two trucks carrying food donations at a checkpoint in Aleppo province. The photos that were released publicly in propaganda social media accounts showed fighters emptying trucks of chicken, fruits and vegetables. The food donations that would supposedly go to the starving refugees were dumped at the bottom of a hill in the Akhtarin countryside.

The images also revealed that the boxes of chicken had been labelled Koch Foods, which is a U.S. chicken company. Abu Mohammed Hussam, an activist associated with Syrian group Raqqa is Being Slaughtered Silently, said ISIS had noticed that the meat was from a U.S. company and decided to burn it.

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