{"id":590153,"date":"2026-08-20T03:46:11","date_gmt":"2026-08-20T03:46:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/590153\/"},"modified":"2026-08-20T03:46:11","modified_gmt":"2026-08-20T03:46:11","slug":"international-criminal-court-new-us-sanctions-a-flagrant-attack-against-its-independence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/590153\/","title":{"rendered":"International Criminal Court: New US sanctions \u2018a flagrant attack\u2019 against its independence"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cThese sanctions are a flagrant attack against the independence of an impartial judicial institution which operates pursuant to the mandate conferred by its States Parties from across regions,\u201d the ICC\u00a0wrote in a statement<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Established in 2002 under the Rome Statute, the ICC is a separate institution and not part of the UN, although the Security Council<\/a> may refer cases to the court.<\/p>\n

With the consent of countries that have signed the Rome Statute, the ICC prosecutes individuals for genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity and the crime of aggression.<\/p>\n

See our explainer, here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

UN Spokesperson St\u00e9phane Dujarric told reporters on Wednesday that Secretary-General Ant\u00f3nio Guterres<\/a> was seriously concerned at the latest US action \u201cas well as the ongoing designation of other International Criminal Court<\/a> employees.\u201d<\/p>\n

US steps up attack<\/p>\n

The US, which is not a party to the Rome Statute, has expressed concerns that the ICC is a threat to its national sovereignty. It worries the Court could prosecute US citizens for grave crimes allegedly committed in countries that \u2013 unlike the US \u2013 recognize the court\u2019s authority.<\/p>\n

On Tuesday, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced fresh sanctions against ICC President Tomoko Akane and senior trial lawyer Abdoulaye Seye. Washington had previously sanctioned former top prosecutor Karim Khan, who has since been dismissed<\/a> from his post.\u00a0<\/p>\n

According to media reports, Mr. Seye has played a role in the investigation into Israeli funding for illegal settlements in the West Bank and the alleged distribution of weapons to settlers.<\/p>\n

In November 2024, the ICC led by prosecutor Khan issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former defence minister Yoav Gallant, alleging war crimes relating to the war against Hamas in Gaza.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Trump Administration has been clear: the International Criminal Court is a corrupt and fatally politicised supranational court that has maliciously abused its authority and exceeded its mandate,\u201d Mr. Rubio wrote in a statement.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The sanctions build on previous US sanctions against the ICC under both terms of President Donald Trump, as well as Mr. Rubio\u2019s statement on 13 July that the US intended to \u201cdismantle\u201d the court\u2019s threat to US sovereignty.<\/p>\n

Nine of the court\u2019s 18 judges, along with both deputy prosecutors, the former prosecutor and one staff member are now barred from transacting with US citizens and face onerous restrictions in the global financial system.<\/p>\n

ICC is \u2018key pillar\u2019: Dujarric<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile the United Nations and the International Criminal Court are separate institutions, with separate and distinct mandates, as we often said, the United Nations considers the ICC a key pillar of international criminal justice and the Secretary-General very much respects its work,\u201d Mr. Dujarric said.<\/p>\n

US officials including Mr. Rubio have defended US sanctions by asserting that some of the court\u2019s investigations and arrest warrants have been politically motivated, and that the Court\u2019s power infringes upon national constitutional systems.<\/p>\n

On Wednesday, the court pushed back, saying that \u201cthe international legal order itself is placed at risk\u201d when judges are threatened for applying the law.<\/p>\n

\u201cThreats and coercive measures also impact the ability of victims to seek justice, as they turn to the court when all other avenues have been exhausted,\u201d the ICC wrote.<\/p>\n

The court said it stands behind its personnel and victims of \u201cunimaginable atrocities,\u201d adding that it will continue to carry out its mandate \u201cwith independence and impartiality.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe ICC values the consistent demonstrations of solidarity of States Parties, civil society and all those who support the rule of law and justice for the victims of international crimes,\u201d it wrote. \u201cThe Court will continue its work, with all partners and with the unwavering support of its States Parties, to ensure the effective and independent implementation of its mandate.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cThese sanctions are a flagrant attack against the independence of an impartial judicial institution which operates pursuant to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":590154,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[85,46,43],"class_list":["post-590153","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-israel","tag-il","tag-israel","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/590153","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=590153"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/590153\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/590154"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=590153"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=590153"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=590153"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}