When the Canadian Kimberly Prost learned Donald Trump\u2019s administration had imposed sanctions on her, it came as a shock.<\/p>\n
For years, she has sat as a judge at the international criminal court, weighing accusations of war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity; now she is on the same list as terrorists and those involved in organised crime. \u201cIt really was a moment of a bit of disbelief,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
The fallout was both material and psychological. As her credit cards, Amazon and Google accounts were cancelled, she reeled from what she described as a \u201cdirect and flagrant attack\u201d on one of the world\u2019s most prominent courts.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese are coercive measures designed to attack our ability to do our jobs objectively and independently,\u201d she said. \u201cWe want people to appreciate how wrong this is.\u201d<\/p>\n
Since Trump returned to power last year, his administration has worked steadily<\/a> to hobble the Hague-based court. To date, 11 of the court\u2019s officials<\/a> \u2013 including the chief prosecutor and eight judges \u2013 have been placed under sanctions, subjecting them to measures that include bans on travel to the US and fines and prison sentences for American companies who provide them services.<\/p>\n The international criminal court in The Hague. Photograph: Peter Dejong\/AP<\/p>\n In an executive order last year, Trump accused the court<\/a> of engaging in \u201cillegitimate and baseless actions targeting America and our close ally Israel\u201d, suggesting that the sanctions were in retribution for pursuing investigations into US and Israeli officials. Neither the US nor Israel is among the 125 signatori<\/a>es of the Rome statute,<\/a> the 1998 treaty that gave rise to the court.<\/p>\n The executive order led 79 countries \u2013 including Canada, Brazil, Denmark, Mexico and Nigeria \u2013 to come together<\/a> in support of the court. The sanctions, they said in a joint letter, \u201cincrease the risk of impunity for the most serious crimes and threaten to erode the international rule of law\u201d.<\/p>\n Prior to joining the ICC, Prost had spent five years working with the United Nations on its sanctions programme. Even so, she was surprised at how far-reaching the sanctions were. \u201cIt has such a serious impact in terms of day-to-day life, it\u2019s not symbolic,\u201d she said. \u201cYou lose all your credit cards, no matter where they were issued.\u201d<\/p>\n Simple tasks, from booking an Uber to reserving a flight or hotel room, became impossible. Bank transfers now included uncertainty over whether they would sail through the system or be rejected. Following the cancellation of her Amazon and Google accounts, Prost lived with the constant worry that her other accounts would also vanish. \u201cEverything becomes such a challenge,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n For the Peruvian judge Luz del Carmen Ib\u00e1\u00f1ez Carranza, the US sanctions marked the second time she had been targeted by a global superpower for her work with the ICC. In December, a Russian court had tried her<\/a> in absentia, along with the court\u2019s chief prosecutor and seven other judges, following the ICC\u2019s decision to put out an arrest warrant for Vladimir Putin over the invasion of Ukraine. They were handed sentences of up to 15 years in prison.<\/p>\n Luz del Carmen Ib\u00e1\u00f1ez Carranza (back row, second from left) sitting at the international criminal court. Photograph: Sem van der Wal\/ANP\/AFP\/Getty Images<\/p>\n But the US sanctions were on another level, given the country\u2019s weight in the global financial system. Soon after she was sanctioned, Ib\u00e1\u00f1ez Carranza said her bank in the Netherlands cancelled her credit card. \u201cWhy? It\u2019s a European bank, not an American bank,\u201d she said. \u201cWe\u2019ve seen a kind of over-compliance with the sanctions, because some banks are terrified about their relations with US banks or institutions.\u201d<\/p>\n What had been most painful, however, was to see how the sanctions had targeted her daughter, leading to the cancellation of her US visa and Google accounts. \u201cShe lives in another part of the world, she has no link to the ICC,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s sad. This is pure retaliation for something she hasn\u2019t done.\u201d<\/p>\n It was a pattern seen across the ICC, she said, where spouses, parents and children of officials had ended up caught in the dragnet of the sanctions. \u201cThis is the kind of persecution that I think the world should not allow to happen,\u201d said Ib\u00e1\u00f1ez Carranza. \u201cWe serve humanity. We are delivering justice for the most vulnerable victims around the world, for millions and millions of women and children who have no voice.\u201d<\/p>\n She pointed to the critical work the court did in taking on cases when nations were unable or unwilling to prosecute crimes on their territory. \u201cSo my call is for the entire world to defend this institution that is the cause of humanity.\u201d<\/p>\n The sanctions have added to an already complicated panorama for the court, landing months after its top prosecutor, Karim Khan, was accused<\/a> of sexual misconduct. He has denied the allegations.<\/p>\n While the measures have so far focused on individuals, the court has been wrestling with fears that Washington could impose sanctions on the court as a whole. \u201cThe concern is the sanctions will be used to shut the court down, to destroy it rather than just tie its hands,\u201d one ICC official told the Guardian<\/a> last year.<\/p>\n The court had since sprung into action, said Prost. \u201cIt has been taken very seriously and a number of preventative measures are in place,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n