Sarah Shaw describes traumatic ordeal in US detention
New Zealand mother Sarah Shaw has described her traumatic ordeal in United States immigration detention, where she and her son were held for three weeks after a visa mix up at the US-Canada border. She's finally made it back to her home state of Washington, but is required to wear an ankle monitor and still faces further court appearances. She said she's full of gratitude to the friend who relentlessly publicised her case and pressured US authorities. Kate Green reports.
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RNZ News
27 minutes ago
- RNZ News
Fijian among four ICC judges sanctioned by US for backing Netanyahu arrest warrants
Fiji's Nazhat Shameem Khan is a ICC deputy prosecutor. Photo: AFP A high-profile Fijian is among four International Criminal Court (ICC) judges sanctioned by the United States government. In a statement on Wednesday , the US Department of State announced that Fiji's Nazhat Shameem Khan, a ICC deputy prosecutor, alongside Canada's Kimberly Prost, France's Nicolas Guillou and Senegal's Mame Mandiaye Niang, would be sanctioned in response to the ICC's "ongoing threat to Americans and Israelis". According to the State Department, the sanctions were imposed under Executive Order 14203, which targets "foreign persons engaged in certain malign efforts by the ICC" and seeks to impose serious consequences on those directly participating in the Court's actions against the United States and Israel. Shameem Khan is "being designated for continuing to support illegitimate ICC actions against Israel, including upholding the ICC's arrest warrants targeting Prime Minister Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Gallant" since assuming her role at the ICC. The sanctions mean all four individuals will have their US-based assests and interests frozen, and any financial transactions involving them in the US will be prohibited unless specifically approved. The ICC strongly rejected the US sanctions against its judges, calling them "a flagrant attack against the independence of an impartial judicial institution". "They constitute also an affront against the Court's States Parties, the rules-based international order and, above all, millions of innocent victims across the world. "As stated before by the ICC President and Judiciary, as well as the Presidency of the Assembly of States Parties to the Rome Statute, the Court stands firmly behind its personnel and victims of unimaginable atrocities." The Court said it will continue carrying out its mandate in strict accordance with its legal framework, as adopted by the 125 States Parties, and without regard to any restriction, pressure or threat.


Otago Daily Times
7 hours ago
- Otago Daily Times
NZ mum on being detained in US
By Kate Green of RNZ New Zealand mother Sarah Shaw has spoken to media for the first time since her release, describing her three-week stay in a United States detainment centre. Shaw and her six-year-old son Isaac were held at the facility in Dilley, Texas for three weeks after a mix-up with her visa at the Canadian border. Speaking to King 5 news in her home state of Washington, still wearing an ankle monitor and facing further court dates, she described living in close quarters with dozens of other detainees, her son constantly with her. "If I needed to go to the bathroom, Isaac was there, yelling at me outside the stall. If I wanted to take a shower he had to come with me, so we were completely joined at the hip." She was detained on July 24, after driving across the border to Vancouver to put two of her three children on a direct flight to New Zealand to visit their grandparents. The issue arose when she tried to re-enter the US without both parts of her visa renewed. "I'd spoke to my attorney about it, and she'd said, 'You'll be fine, your paperwork's all valid'. She was kind of like, that would be worst-case-scenario. But I really didn't think that was going to happen." She was detained by immigration officials and flown the centre in Texas - the nearest one which could accommodate families. Her lawyer Minda Thorward told RNZ's Checkpoint programme yesterday that Immigration and Customs Enforcement had caved to the pressure, following international media coverage and involvement from New Zealand and US state officials. But she was released with none of her documents and wearing an ankle monitor. She was dropped off in Laredo, Texas, a two-and-a-half-hour drive from San Antonio airport, where her flight home was booked from - and only just made it onto the plane due to flight delays. With more court appearances ahead, she was working with her lawyer to get the anklet removed. Customs and Border Patrol told King 5 news: "When someone with an expired parole leaves the country and tries to re-enter the US, they will be stopped in compliance with our laws and regulations. "If they are accompanied by a minor, CBP will follow all protocols to keep families together, or arrange care with a legal guardian." A GoFundMe page set up to help pay her bills and rent while she was detained had by this afternoon raised more than $105,000 (more than $US61,000). The page description has been updated thanking people for their support and saying "the fight is not over".

RNZ News
10 hours ago
- RNZ News
Trump administration imposes new sanctions on four ICC judges, prosecutors
By Humeyra Pamuk and Anthony Deutsch , Reuters Trump's dislike of the International Criminal Court goes back to his first term. Photo: BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI / AFP President Donald Trump's administration has imposed sanctions on two judges and two prosecutors at the International Criminal Court, as Washington ramped up its pressure on the war tribunal over its targeting of Israeli leaders and a past decision to investigate United States officials. In a statement, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio called the court "a national security threat that has been an instrument for lawfare" against the United States and Israel. Washington designated Nicolas Yann Guillou of France, Nazhat Shameem Khan of Fiji, Mame Mandiaye Niang of Senegal, and Kimberly Prost of Canada, according to the US Treasury and State Department. All officials have been involved in cases linked to Israel and the United States. "United States has been clear and steadfast in our opposition to the ICC's politicisation, abuse of power, disregard for our national sovereignty, and illegitimate judicial overreach," Rubio said. The second round of sanctions comes less than three months after the administration took the unprecedented step of slapping sanctions on four separate ICC judges. It represents a serious escalation that will likely impede the functioning of the court and the prosecutor's office as they deal with major cases, including war crime allegations against Russia over its invasion of Ukraine. ICC, which had slammed the move in June as an attempt to undermine the independence of the judicial institution, and the office of the prosecutor, did not have immediate comment. ICC judges issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, former Israeli defense chief Yoav Gallant, and Hamas leader Ibrahim al-Masri last November for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity during the Gaza conflict. In March 2020, prosecutors opened an investigation in Afghanistan that included looking into possible crimes by US troops, but since 2021, it has deprioritised the role of the US and focused on alleged crimes committed by the Afghan government and the Taliban forces. The ICC, which was established in 2002, has international jurisdiction to prosecute genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes in member states or if a situation is referred by the United Nations Security Council. The International Criminal Court ICC signage and buildings in The Hague, Netherlands. Photo: NICOLAS ECONOMOU / NurPhoto via AFP Although the ICC has jurisdiction over war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide in its 125 member countries, some nations, including the US, China, Russia, and Israel, do not recognise its authority. It has high-profile war crimes investigations under way into the Israel-Hamas conflict and Russia's war in Ukraine, as well as in Sudan, Myanmar, the Philippines, and Venezuela. The sanctions freeze any US assets the individuals may have and essentially cut them off from the US financial system. Guillou is an ICC judge who presided over a pre-trial panel that issued the arrest warrant for Netanyahu. Khan and Niang are the court's two deputy prosecutors. Netanyahu's office issued a statement welcoming the US sanctions. Canadian Judge Kimberly Prost served on an ICC appeals chamber that, in March 2020, unanimously authorised the ICC prosecutor to investigate alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in Afghanistan since 2003, including examining the role of US service members. Global Affairs Canada and the office of Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the ICC sanctions, including against Prost. The Trump administration's dislike of the court goes back to his first term. In 2020, Washington imposed sanctions on then-prosecutor Fatou Bensouda and one of her top aides over the court's work on Afghanistan. - Reuters