US imposes sanctions on International Criminal Court

The United States imposed sanctions on the International Criminal Court as an institution on Friday, escalating the Trump administration’s campaign against the Hague-based tribunal after previously targeting individual judges, prosecutors and others connected to its work.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the measures would ban transactions with the ICC and cut off resources available to it. “Either the ICC will end its threats, or we will end the ICC,” he said in a video posted on social media. The sanctions block ICC assets under US jurisdiction and give US companies and individuals six months to wind down business with the court, while exempting some transactions.

Washington says the ICC has overstepped its authority by pursuing matters involving citizens of the United States and Israel, neither of which is a party to the Rome Statute that established the court. The administration has cited the court’s actions involving alleged abuses in Afghanistan and arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former defence minister Yoav Gallant.

The ICC called the sanctions an attempt to obstruct justice and “an assault on the rule of law and on the very foundations of the international legal order.” ICC President Tomoko Akane said the court would continue its work independently and impartially, and appealed to member states for support.

Netanyahu thanked the Trump administration for the action. The sanctions were announced hours after former ICC judge Navi Pillay was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, although reports said the US move had been planned before the award.