US imposes sanctions on International Criminal Court, drawing condemnation

Washington, United States. US President Donald Trump’s administration imposed sanctions on the International Criminal Court on Friday, hours after one of its former judges won the Nobel Peace Prize. The move put Washington on a diplomatic collision course with European allies.

Court calls on member states to act

The ICC denounced the sanctions as an “assault on the rule of law and on the very foundations of the international legal order” and urged its 125 member states to take action to defend it.

“The Court cannot stand alone. Its fate now rests also in the hands of the states that created it,” the court said in a statement. “This is not just about defending a single institution, but about safeguarding the international order grounded upon the rule of law. History will judge this moment.”

The Trump administration has long been hostile to the court, which was founded in 2002 to prosecute war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide. It has previously imposed sanctions on ICC prosecutors and judges. Friday’s measures would go much further by potentially penalising companies that provide services to the court itself.

Transaction restrictions and exemptions

“President Trump will never allow the International Criminal Court to prosecute Americans,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement first published by Reuters.

“That is why, today, the United States is sanctioning the International Criminal Court. We will ban transactions with this rogue court, cutting off their resources and crippling its ability to operate.”

The US Treasury announced the sanctions with an initial six-month grace period and exemptions allowing some transactions involving telecommunications, software, pension payments and detainees.

Rubio said the measures had been structured to give the court and its member states an opportunity to address US concerns. He said the sanctions would be adjusted if those demands were not met.

Disputes over investigations and arrest warrants

Washington has denounced the ICC over arrest warrants issued for Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and a past investigation into the actions of US soldiers in Afghanistan. The ICC says that investigation has been “deprioritized”.

“The sanctions are intended to undermine the rule of law internationally and the work that an independent judicial institution is doing,” ICC Deputy Prosecutor Nazhat Shameem Khan told Reuters. “Our work will continue across all our situations, our investigations and our prosecutions.”