Today is a good day for the international fight against impunity. The lifting of US sanctions against officials of the International Criminal Court, including Chief Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda, announced by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, is an important step to ensure that grave international crimes are independently investigated and perpetrators brought to justice. We owe this to the many victims and those left behind, to whom the ICC brings hope for justice.

The International Criminal Court is an historical achievement, whose functioning we must preserve and promote. This includes supporting the ICC’s reform and review processes, in order to improve its work processes and further increase the efficacy of its proceedings. In this regard, we maintain an ongoing exchange with our American partners, who have supported the ICC in a number of important cases. A look at the world sadly shows that the need for justice as well as the challenges faced by the ICC will not become less urgent in the future.