The United States welcomed Venezuela’s decision to begin withdrawing from the International Criminal Court on Saturday and urged other countries to follow suit.
Under interim president Delcy Rodríguez, Caracas announced on Friday that it would start the process of permanently leaving the court. In a statement, Washington backed the move, saying the new Venezuelan government was joining the United States in efforts to “dismantle” the ICC.
The US State Department described the court as “corrupt” and “lacking all credibility”. The United States is not itself a member of the ICC.
The court has been investigating alleged crimes against humanity committed in Venezuela since 2017 under the government of former president Nicolás Maduro, who was captured by the United States on 3 January.
In 2021, when she was vice-president, Rodríguez dismissed the ICC case as “a huge farce” and an “artificially created” file. She said the Venezuelan state had been defending “the peace and tranquillity of our people” in response to the highly violent protests that followed Maduro’s disputed re-election.
Separately, on Friday evening, ICC prosecutor Karim Khan was removed from office during a secret-ballot vote at an extraordinary closed-door meeting at the United Nations headquarters in New York.
Khan had been facing allegations of sexual assault made by a member of his team. The British lawyer, who had held the post since 2021, had repeatedly denied the claims, while his lawyer said the court’s independence was under “immense political pressure”.
In 2024, Khan secured arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former defence minister Yoav Gallant over the war in Gaza. The ICC also issued warrants for senior Hamas officials, who have since been killed.
Because of the case involving Israeli leaders, Khan was sanctioned by the United States, along with several judges involved in the proceedings.
After Khan’s suspension was announced, a US State Department spokesperson said: “It is a good thing that Karim Khan has gone, but he was only a minor cog in this irredeemably corrupt institution.”
Relations between Washington and Caracas have warmed markedly since Donald Trump had Maduro captured in early January. The US administration has strongly backed interim president Delcy Rodríguez.
