79 Parties To ICC Condemn US Sanctions
The countries added that the International Criminal Court faces unprecedented challenges after taking measures to punish it, its officials, employees and collaborators. The statement stressed that imposing sanctions on the criminal court would undermine all ongoing investigations and the court may be forced to close its field offices.
US President Donald Trump approved, on Thursday, the imposition of economic sanctions and travel restrictions targeting individuals who assist in the International Criminal Court's investigations into US citizens or its allies such as Israel.
The International Criminal Court previously issued an arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Galant, whom they held "criminally responsible for directing a deliberate attack against civilians" in the war that Israel launched on the Gaza Strip on October 7, 2023.
Sanctions are threatening the independence of the court
In international reactions, European Council President Antonio Costa said that this decision threatens the independence of the International Court and undermines the international criminal justice system as a whole.
In Britain, the Prime Minister's Office said through its spokesman that Britain supports the independence of the International Criminal Court and does not intend to impose sanctions on its officials.
Germany also announced that it will continue to support the International Criminal Court, and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said that the sanctions imposed by Trump threaten the institution that is supposed to ensure that tyrants in this world are unable to persecute peoples and start wars.
As for France, its Foreign Ministry confirmed its support for the International Criminal Court; it said, in a statement, that Paris will work with its partners to ensure that the International Criminal Court continues to operate independently and impartially.
Similar positions condemning Trump's decision were also issued by the United Nations, Human Rights Watch, the European Commission, and the Netherlands.
Trump’s order said the court had engaged in “unlawful and baseless actions” targeting the United States and its close ally Israel, and had “baselessly claimed jurisdiction over individuals from the United States and some of its allies, including Israel.”
In response, the ICC vowed to stand firmly with its staff, calling on “member states, civil society, and all nations of the world to stand united for justice and fundamental human rights.”
The court’s president, Tomoko Akani, denounced the sanctions as a “dangerous attack” on the global order. In a statement, Akani said Trump’s move was “the latest in an unprecedented and escalating series of attacks aimed at undermining the court’s ability to deliver justice in all cases.”
“Such threats and coercive measures” constitute “dangerous attacks on the court’s states parties, the global rule of law system, and the millions of victims,” she added. “We strongly reject any attempt to undermine the court’s independence and impartiality or to politicize our judicial function,” she added.
Akani also expressed her "deep regret" over the US move, stressing that the court is "indispensable" in light of the atrocities taking place around the world.
Purpose of the sanctions
The new sanctions target individuals who assist in ICC investigations into US citizens or allies such as Israel, and include freezing any assets of these individuals in the United States and preventing them and their families from visiting the United States.
The court has taken proactive measures to protect its employees from potential US sanctions, paying three months’ salaries in advance and preparing for financial restrictions that could hamper its work.
In December 2023, the court’s president, Judge Tomoko Akani, warned that US sanctions could “undermine the court’s operations in all cases and jeopardize its very existence.”
This is not the first time the United States has imposed sanctions on the ICC. In 2020, during the first Trump administration, Washington imposed sanctions on then-prosecutor Fatou Bensouda and one of her top aides, due to the court’s investigations into war crimes committed by US forces in Afghanistan.
The court was established in 2002 to prosecute those involved in war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide, and the crime of launching an act of hostility; When member states are unwilling or unable to do so themselves.
It can hear cases involving crimes committed by nationals of member states or on the territory of member states by third parties, while the number of member states is 125. The court's budget for 2025 is about 195 million euros ($202 million).
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