US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has announced sanctions against the president and a senior lawyer of the International Criminal Court (ICC). The move is the Trump administration's latest escalation in its campaign to "dismantle" the court which is empowered by more than 120 member countries to investigate war crimes. Rubio said the US was sanctioning ICC President Tomoko Akane of Japan and ICC Senior Trial Lawyer Abdoulaye Seye of Senegal following an order from President Donald Trump's targeting the court last year.
He accused them of directly engaging "in efforts by the ICC to investigate, arrest, detain, or prosecute officials whose government has not consented to ICC jurisdiction". "[T]he International Criminal Court (ICC) is a corrupt and fatally politicized supranational court that has maliciously abused its authority and exceeded its mandate. We will not tolerate its assault on state sovereignty," Rubio added.
The ICC has been approached for comment. Neither President Trump nor the White House has so far commented. The Trump administration has already announced sanctions on at least 11 ICC officials, including nine judges and the chief prosecutor.
The sanctions include asset freezes, travel bans, and restrictions on services from U.S. companies. Those sanctions were issued in retaliation for ICC investigations into US personnel in Afghanistan and for warrants the court issued against top Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, for alleged war crimes in Gaza. Netanyahu has denied allegations of war crimes and accused the court of being motivated by antisemitism.
Neither the US nor Israel are members of the ICC. Trump's opposition to the court dates back to his first term in office, when he first described the ICC as a "threat" and told the UN General Assembly that it has "no jurisdiction, no legitimacy, and no authority" as far as the US is concerned. Last month, Rubio called on the ICC's 125 member countries to withdraw from the court as part of a US government campaign to dismantle it "brick by brick".
Amid a growing pressure campaign, a US official said Washington would "watch with interest" who heeded its call and who did not. 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 UN Security Council. Rights organisations have pushed back against what they view as the Trump administration's attempts to undermine international law and stifle efforts to combat impunity by governments around the world.
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