Washington (Reuters): 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, putting Washington on a diplomatic collision course with European allies.
The court denounced the move as an “assault on the rule of law and on the very foundations of the international legal order,” and called on 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,” it 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, founded in 2002 to prosecute war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide, and has previously imposed sanctions on its prosecutors and judges. Friday’s move would go much farther, by potentially punishing companies that provide services to the court itself.
“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 a six-month initial grace period, and some other exemptions that would allow some transactions for telecoms, software, payment of pensions and transactions related to detainees.
Rubio said the sanctions had been structured to give the court and its member states an opportunity to address US concerns, and would be adjusted if those demands were not met.
Washington has denounced the ICC over arrest warrants issued for Israeli officials including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and a past investigation into actions of US soldiers in Afghanistan, which the ICC says is “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.”
The ICC has issued arrest warrants against more than 70 people, including world leaders and major figures in global conflicts. In addition to Netanyahu, it has sought the arrest of Hamas figures. Others who were the subject of arrest warrants include Russian President Vladimir Putin, former Sudan President Omar al-Bashir and former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi. Charges against Kenyan President William Ruto and former Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta were withdrawn.
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The court has received strong backing in the past from its member states, which include all EU countries and all members of the NATO alliance apart from the United States and Turkey. It is based in the Netherlands, an EU and NATO member.
