The move marks a significant escalation of the administration’s campaign against the Hague-based court
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the sanctions were aimed at preventing the ICC from prosecuting American citizens. “President Trump will never allow the International Criminal Court to prosecute Americans,” Rubio said in a statement reviewed by Reuters ahead of the official announcement. The move marks a significant escalation of the administration’s campaign against the Hague-based court. We will ban transactions with this rogue court, cutting off their resources and crippling its ability to operate.”
The Donald Trump administration imposed sanctions on the International Criminal Court (ICC) on Friday, hours after former court judge Navi Pillay won the Nobel Peace Prize for her efforts to promote international law. “That is why, today, the United States is sanctioning the International Criminal Court.
The court, established in 2002, has 125 member states, including all European Union countries and most NATO members. Pillay, 85, a South African-born jurist and former United Nations human rights chief, won the Nobel Peace Prize for her work promoting international law. She previously served as an ICC judge from 2003 to 2008 and chaired a UN commission that concluded Israel had committed genocide in Gaza, a finding that Israel has strongly rejected.
The sanctions could further strain ties with European allies, many of whose countries are members of the ICC. The United States and Turkey are not members.
The Trump administration has repeatedly criticised the ICC over its arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former defence minister Yoav Gallant, as well as its earlier investigation into alleged crimes by US troops in Afghanistan, which the court has since closed. Washington has previously imposed sanctions on ICC prosecutors and judges, including its president, Tomoko Akane, and senior trial lawyer Abdoulaye Seye.