ICC asked to investigate Biden and other former US officials for complicity in war crimes

“There are solid grounds to investigate Joe Biden, Antony Blinken and Lloyd Austin for complicity in Israel’s crimes,” said Reed Brody, DAWN board member and veteran war crimes lawyer. “The bombs dropped on Palestinian hospitals, schools and homes are American bombs, the campaign of murder and persecution has been carried out with American support. US officials have been aware of exactly what Israel is doing, and yet their support never stopped.”
DAWN’s communication lays out the legal and factual basis for investigating Biden, Blinken, and Austin for violating Articles 25(3)(c) and (d) of the Rome Statute, both aiding and abetting and intentionally contributing to crimes committed by Israeli officials in Gaza. These crimes include those identified in the arrest warrants against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant, including the war crimes of starvation and intentionally directing attacks against the civilian population, and crimes against humanity, including murder, inhumane acts, and persecution, under the Rome Statute. It also includes their role in the war crime of intentionally directing attacks against civilian objects under Article 8(2)(b)(ii) and the crime of genocide under Article 6.
“Not only did Biden, Blinken and Austin ignore and justify the overwhelming evidence of Israel’s grotesque and deliberate crimes, overruling their own staff recommendations to halt weapons transfers to Israel, they doubled down by providing Israel with unconditional military and political support to ensure it could carry out its atrocities,” said Sarah Leah Whitson, Executive Director of DAWN. “They provided Israel with not only essential military support but equally essential political support by vetoing multiple ceasefire resolutions at the UN Security Council to ensure Israel could continue its crimes.”
On 6 February, 2025, US President Donald Trump issued an executive order for sanctions against ICC officials to punish them for their investigation of Israeli officials, and on 13 February, the Treasury Department sanctioned ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan under this order. This order could subject Trump to individual criminal liability for obstruction of justice under Article 70 of the Rome Statute. The US president has also proposed a plan to forcibly displace all Palestinians from Gaza and to take over the territory.
“Trump isn’t just obstructing justice; he’s trying to burn down the courthouse to prevent anyone from holding Israeli criminals accountable,” said Raed Jarrar, DAWN’s advocacy director. “His plan to forcibly displace all Palestinians from Gaza should also merit ICC investigation, not just for aiding and abetting Israeli crimes but for ordering forcible transfer, a crime against humanity under the Rome Statute.”
ICC asked to investigate Biden and other former US officials for complicity in war crimes
DAWN submitted its 19 January communication in response to the Prosecutor’s 17 November, 2023 call for parties to present to his office information relevant to his office’s ongoing probe into violations of the Rome Statute in Palestine, including the current war in Gaza.
The submission presents extensive documentation of decisions by these three American officials to provide Israel with military support, including providing over $17.9bn in weapons and active military support, including US-operated combat operations, intelligence gathering and targeting support. The submission also details the trio’s political support, including actions at the UN Security Council to veto ceasefire resolutions, and public support encouraging Israeli atrocities, each with the goal of aiding and abetting and ensuring the continuation of Israeli crimes. It analyses how specific actions and decisions by these officials meet the legal threshold for both aiding and abetting and intentionally contributing to crimes under international criminal law, drawing on established ICC jurisprudence and precedent from other international tribunals.