Human rights, intl justice, foreign policy. Former Human Rights First, career State Dept/NSC, Princeton SPIA, Rice University. Views mine alone.https://bsky.app/profile/adamofkeith.bsky.socialhttps://bsky.app/profile/adamofkeith.bsky.social/post/3mzgejld4ic2tHere is the ICC pre-trial chamber's hedged take on the state of those proceedings against Njeem: [contains quote post or other embedded content]03 Nov 2026 17:30 +0000at://did:plc:o7xehgjom3r62ryumig2chw4/app.bsky.feed.post/3mzgejld4ic2thttps://bsky.app/profile/adamofkeith.bsky.social/post/3mzgeijx7n22tThe Trump administration sanctioned an ICC defendant last week, rather than an ICC judge or prosecutor. It's a Section 7031(c) visa ban on Osama Njeem, a Libyan official allegedly involved in the torture and other abuse of prisoners and wanted by the ICC for the same. https://www.state.gov/releases/office-of-the-spokesman/2026/10/designation-of-libyan-judicial-police-official-for-involvement-in-torture-and-cruel-inhumane-and-degrading-treatment/03 Nov 2026 17:30 +0000at://did:plc:o7xehgjom3r62ryumig2chw4/app.bsky.feed.post/3mzgeijx7n22thttps://bsky.app/profile/adamofkeith.bsky.social/post/3mze5zgkkas2sGood interview with the ICC president, whom the Trump administration has absurdly sanctioned as presenting a grave threat to U.S. interests. https://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/1701121602 Nov 2026 20:28 +0000at://did:plc:o7xehgjom3r62ryumig2chw4/app.bsky.feed.post/3mze5zgkkas2shttps://bsky.app/profile/adamofkeith.bsky.social/post/3mz4ntvwtjk2jThe next Congress should find out which legal loophole the Trump administration used to claim compliance with the Leahy laws while still providing armored vehicles to an abusive Cameroonian army unit. Then it should close that loophole, and a few others to boot. https://www.wsj.com/world/africa/trumps-deportation-deal-with-cameroon-will-equip-unit-accused-of-war-crimes-a94d3faa30 Oct 2026 20:50 +0000at://did:plc:o7xehgjom3r62ryumig2chw4/app.bsky.feed.post/3mz4ntvwtjk2jhttps://bsky.app/profile/adamofkeith.bsky.social/post/3mywxahlz3c27@sevslv.bsky.social: "States Parties must now make a principled choice and stick to it. They must defend the ICC and secure its ability to function, not pursue fruitless dialogue with a hostile non-party state, beg it for mercy, and offer concessions neither they nor the court can afford." https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2026/10/11/how-the-icc-can-be-saved28 Oct 2026 14:23 +0000at://did:plc:o7xehgjom3r62ryumig2chw4/app.bsky.feed.post/3mywxahlz3c27https://bsky.app/profile/adamofkeith.bsky.social/post/3myl5tmxho22l"Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla announced a bounty of 50 million pesos ($787,000) for dela Rosa’s capture in a televised news conference with top police officials." https://apnews.com/article/philippines-senator-ronald-dela-rosa-rodrigo-duterte-international-criminal-court-f749df2a99be0bfb6dd2876cb2ac19ec23 Oct 2026 21:49 +0000at://did:plc:o7xehgjom3r62ryumig2chw4/app.bsky.feed.post/3myl5tmxho22lhttps://bsky.app/profile/adamofkeith.bsky.social/post/3myl2b5e6ek26Great interview (albeit narrated in Dutch) with Osvaldo Zavala Giler, the unassuming lawyer and former NGO advocate serving as the ICC's chief operating officer while the most powerful country in the world tries to crush it. https://nos.nl/nieuwsuur/video/2636269-griffier-icc-over-de-toekomst-van-het-strafhof23 Oct 2026 20:45 +0000at://did:plc:o7xehgjom3r62ryumig2chw4/app.bsky.feed.post/3myl2b5e6ek26https://bsky.app/profile/adamofkeith.bsky.social/post/3mykm4rz3ic2dGreat post by @davidakaye.bsky.social: "Accountability, to be clear, is not retribution. It is leveling the system so that we can genuinely say that no person is above the law." https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2026/10/trump-accountability-legal-acts-impeachment-guide.html?gift_token=3lvYQO-uSRKXTV0qluiZyg23 Oct 2026 16:32 +0000at://did:plc:o7xehgjom3r62ryumig2chw4/app.bsky.feed.post/3mykm4rz3ic2dhttps://bsky.app/profile/adamofkeith.bsky.social/post/3myfm3gh2wk23From @lizevenson.bsky.social: "The question raised by this executive order is...whether we believe all victims of atrocities deserve justice. And it is a question of whether people in the U.S. remain free to work for justice when that work is politically inconvenient to those in power." https://thehill.com/opinion/criminal-justice/6148562-trump-administration-icc-sanctions-lawsuit/21 Oct 2026 16:48 +0000at://did:plc:o7xehgjom3r62ryumig2chw4/app.bsky.feed.post/3myfm3gh2wk23https://bsky.app/profile/adamofkeith.bsky.social/post/3mwtcxgslms2j“Banks in Europe automatically apply American sanctions, no questions asked. ... This automaticity stems from the time when we thought that the Americans were still our friends. Of course we take over sanctions from the Americans. They liberated our continent. But that time is over..." https://www.politico.eu/article/block-us-sanctions-on-the-icc-eu-lawmakers-tell-commission/01 Oct 2026 16:51 +0000at://did:plc:o7xehgjom3r62ryumig2chw4/app.bsky.feed.post/3mwtcxgslms2jhttps://bsky.app/profile/adamofkeith.bsky.social/post/3mwqyiigsxs2d“We can’t lose the ability to spot a crime when we see it. ... By spotting it and calling it out for what it is, we remain tethered to reality, no matter how hard the state tries to gaslight us. To quote my favorite line in the entire Star Trek canon: “There are four lights.” Not five.” [contains quote post or other embedded content]30 Sep 2026 18:39 +0000at://did:plc:o7xehgjom3r62ryumig2chw4/app.bsky.feed.post/3mwqyiigsxs2dhttps://bsky.app/profile/adamofkeith.bsky.social/post/3mwp2asq5lk2uThis is among the lowest-stakes illegality the Trump administration is engaged in, but it's so brazen. Every State Department official who has ever touched sanctions or visa bans knows it's against the law to publicly name names when revoking or denying a visa using this provision. Not any more. https://www.state.gov/releases/office-of-the-spokesman/2026/09/visa-restrictions-for-foreign-nationals-undermining-democratically-elected-governments-in-western-hemisphere-countries/30 Sep 2026 00:05 +0000at://did:plc:o7xehgjom3r62ryumig2chw4/app.bsky.feed.post/3mwp2asq5lk2uhttps://bsky.app/profile/adamofkeith.bsky.social/post/3mwlp5ygb6s2c“It looks as if the Saudis believed that a corrupt U.S. government was in their interest, that they could get competence and relative stability without any of that pesky integrity, ethics, law, or human rights. But in reality, bribable usually means selfish and weak.” https://foreignpolicy.com/2026/09/24/iran-trump-saudi-war-mbs-bad-bet/28 Sep 2026 16:08 +0000at://did:plc:o7xehgjom3r62ryumig2chw4/app.bsky.feed.post/3mwlp5ygb6s2c