US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has announced that the Donald Trump\nadministration has imposed sanctions on the President of the\nInternational Criminal Court (ICC) and a senior prosecutor.<\/p>\n
The move, announced on Tuesday (18\/08), is the latest escalation in a\nseries of actions by the Trump administration against the international\njudicial body.<\/p>\n
The ICC was established in 2002 and is headquartered in The Hague,\nNetherlands. The institution tries cases of war crimes, genocide, and\ncrimes against humanity. The United States itself is not a member of the\nICC.<\/p>\n
Rubio said the US imposed the sanctions under the authority of an\nexecutive order signed by President Donald Trump. The sanctions target\nICC President Tomoko Akane, a Japanese judge, and Abdoulaye Seye, a\nSenegalese prosecutor handling proceedings at the ICC.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese individuals are directly involved in the ICC\u2019s efforts to\ninvestigate, arrest, detain, or prosecute officials from countries that\ndo not consent to the ICC\u2019s jurisdiction,\u201d Rubio said.<\/p>\n
In a post on X on Tuesday (18\/08), Rubio said the move was part of\n\u201cWashington\u2019s unwavering mission to protect American citizens from a\ncourt he called deceitful.\u201d<\/p>\n
The ICC can only exercise its jurisdiction if member states are\nunable or unwilling to prosecute serious crimes themselves.<\/p>\n
However, the ICC statute also grants the court authority to prosecute\ncitizens of non-member states if they commit crimes on the territory of\na member state.<\/p>\n
Rubio believes the ICC could threaten US personnel carrying out the\nTrump administration\u2019s strict immigration policies or conducting\n\u201ccounter-narcotics\u201d operations against vessels in international waters,\nincluding other US military members.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Trump administration has been clear. The International Criminal\nCourt is a corrupt and highly politicised supranational court that\nabuses its authority deliberately and exceeds its mandate,\u201d read a US\nState Department statement.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe will not tolerate its attempts to attack the sovereignty of\nnations.\u201d<\/p>\n
In 2025, the US imposed sanctions on a number of ICC officials after\nthe court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin\nNetanyahu and Defence Minister Yoav Gallant over the war in Gaza.<\/p>\n
Then in July 2026, Rubio said the Trump administration would\nintensify its efforts to weaken the ICC, including through a diplomatic\ncampaign to persuade other countries to withdraw from the court\u2019s\nmembership.<\/p>\n
Chad and Venezuela, for example, have heeded the US call and\nwithdrawn from the ICC.<\/p>\n
Trump said the US campaign aims to protect its ally, Netanyahu, and\nothers from legal proceedings, not to protect himself.<\/p>\n
Three ICC judges sued the Trump administration in June 2026, calling\nthe sanctions illegal. Last week, four human rights groups also filed a\nsimilar lawsuit. They argued that the US president\u2019s actions deprive\nvictims of war crimes of access to justice.<\/p>\n
The sanctions imposed on Tuesday (18\/08) bar Akane and Seye from\nentering the US and from conducting transactions through the US\nfinancial system.<\/p>\n
The ICC subsequently said it remains \u201cundaunted\u201d and will continue to\nsupport all of its staff.<\/p>\n
The court rejected Washington\u2019s move and stated that \u201cactions\ntargeting judges, prosecutors, and staff carrying out the mandate\nentrusted to the ICC by states instead undermine the rule of law.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen judicial actors are threatened for upholding the law, the\ninternational legal order itself is at risk,\u201d the ICC said in its\nstatement.<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/us-imposes-new-sanctions-on-icc-president-and-senior-prosecutor-1787122438", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }