The International Criminal Court, The Hague, Netherlands. Source: Wikimedia Commons.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
The move builds on an executive order that U.S. President Donald Trump signed shortly after the start of his second term, which was previously used to impose sanctions on individual judges and prosecutors of the legal body, which is not part of the United Nations.<\/p>\n
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio accused the ICC of continuing to try to prosecute U.S. citizens and said that the goal of the sanctions was \u201ccrippling its ability to operate\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOur message is clear. The United States and its people are not subject to the jurisdiction of the ICC,\u201d Rubio said. \u201cEither the ICC will end its threats, or we will end the ICC. We expect our allies, many of whom are part of the ICC and that rely on American service members for their defense, to rein in the court.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIf they do not, the United States will continue its campaign to dismantle the ICC, brick by brick, until Americans are threatened no longer,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The ICC is an independent legal body created by the 1998 Rome Statute that is intended to prosecute individuals for war crimes, genocide, crimes against humanity and the crime of aggression.<\/p>\n
The United States is not a party to the Rome Statute and has long disputed the court\u2019s jurisdiction to investigate or prosecute U.S. citizens for alleged or potential crimes in conflict zones. It has also objected to the ICC\u2019s attempts to prosecute U.S. allies that are not party to the statute, like Israel.<\/p>\n
Past administrations have nonetheless cooperated with the court in areas where the United States believes that it has jurisdiction, as when the Biden Administration shared evidence of Russian war crimes in Ukraine in 2023.<\/p>\n
The ICC said on Friday that it \u201cstrongly rejects\u201d the U.S. sanctions.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe court will continue to fully discharge its mandate, with independence and impartiality, acting only on the basis of the law and the evidence, for the sake of the countless victims of grave crimes,\u201d stated its president Tomoko Akane.<\/p>\n
Canada, Denmark, Germany, France, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom also issued a joint statement<\/u><\/a><\/span> in support of the court.<\/p>\n \u201cWe regret and strongly disagree with the announcement of sanctions to be imposed upon the court by the United States,\u201d the countries stated. \u201cWe will continue to work together to support the court\u2019s vital work, uphold the rules-based international system and advance accountability.\u201d<\/p>\n
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, for whom the ICC issued an arrest warrant in 2024, thanked Trump and Rubio for the sanctions action.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe ICC is not a court,\u201d Netanyahu wrote<\/u><\/a><\/span>. \u201cIt is a political body that poses a mortal threat to law-abiding democracies worldwide and to the very idea of national sovereignty.\u201d<\/p>\n The U.S. Department of the Treasury issued 180-day general licenses on Friday for the court to continue \u201cmaintenance of its operations,\u201d effectively giving it until April to meet U.S. demands for reform before the sanctions take effect.<\/p>\n
Rubio said that the Trump administration continues to \u201chold out hope for a diplomatic solution.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have structured this action to provide an opportunity for states parties to negotiate and present a solution to address our concerns,\u201d he said. \u201cIf these efforts do not bear fruit, we will continue to adjust accordingly.\u201d<\/p>\n
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