Trinidad and Tobago breaks with longstanding ICC support in UN vote
Key Points(5)
- Trinidad and Tobago abstained from a United Nations General Assembly resolution concerning the International Criminal Court (ICC) on November 2, marking a departure from the country's longstanding record of support for the institution championed by former Prime Minister Arthur N.R.
- The resolution, A/81/L.11, titled “Report of the International Criminal Court,” was adopted with 93 countries voting in favour, 13 against and 36 abstaining, according to the UN voting record.
- The United States, Russia, Israel and Argentina were among the countries voting against the resolution.
- Belarus, North Korea, Nicaragua and Paraguay also opposed it.
- The annual resolution allows UN member states to examine the court's work and cooperation needs.
Trinidad and Tobago abstained from a United Nations General Assembly resolution concerning the International Criminal Court (ICC) on November 2, marking a departure from the country's longstanding record of support for the institution championed by former Prime Minister Arthur N.R. Robinson.
The resolution, A/81/L.11, titled “Report of the International Criminal Court,” was adopted with 93 countries voting in favour, 13 against and 36 abstaining, according to the UN voting record.
The United States, Russia, Israel and Argentina were among the countries voting against the resolution. Belarus, North Korea, Nicaragua and Paraguay also opposed it.
The annual resolution allows UN member states to examine the court's work and cooperation needs. Between 2005 and 2022, it was adopted without a vote, with Trinidad and Tobago at times serving as a sponsor or additional sponsor.
According to the UN General Assembly president's statement, the latest ICC report covers August 1, 2025, to July 31, 2026. It outlines the court's judicial, prosecutorial, administrative and institutional activities, as well as its cooperation with the United Nations, governments and other partners.
The abstention has drawn criticism from former Foreign and CARICOM Affairs Minister Dr. Amery Browne, now an Opposition senator, who accused the government of abandoning Trinidad and Tobago's longstanding support for the institution.
Browne criticised Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar and Foreign and CARICOM Affairs Minister Sean Sobers, describing the decision as a departure from the country's established diplomatic position.
“Under this UNC regime, Trinidad and Tobago has gone from a longstanding position of co-sponsoring such Resolutions in the past to now turning its back on the ICC,” he said.
He also accused the administration of acting in subservience to a foreign agenda, arguing that the abstention undermined the legacy of Robinson, who played a pivotal role in advancing the proposal for an international criminal court.
“It is a devaluation of the legacy and work of ANR Robinson, who was a primary inspiration for the formation of the ICC to bring to justice individual perpetrators of Crimes Against Humanity and other terrible atrocities,” Browne said.
In 1989, Robinson, then prime minister, addressed the UN General Assembly and called for renewed work toward establishing an international criminal court. His intervention helped revive the proposal and set in motion negotiations that culminated in the adoption of the Rome Statute in 1998.
Browne further described the abstention as “a marker of the unprincipled cowardice of the current UNC Cabinet,” arguing that the decision had embarrassed Trinidad and Tobago's diplomatic standing.
