United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio has announced a new set of sanctions against the International Criminal Court (ICC), this time targeting the entity itself, as opposed to the tribunal’s officials or groups that provide support. The announcement on Friday represented the latest escalation from the administration of US President Donald Trump, which has vowed an “all of government” approach to dismantling the court. Before Friday’s actions, the US had sanctioned ICC judges and prosecutors, a UN special rapporteur focusing on the occupied Palestinian territories and Palestinian rights groups that have provided evidence to the court.
Several rights groups have challenged those sanctions in US federal court, saying restricting how US citizens interact with the court treads on their constitutional freedoms. Sanctioned ICC judges have also launched legal challenges in the US. Speaking to the news agency on Friday, deputy prosecutor Nazhat Shameem Khan said the sanctions “must be condemned”.
However, the court has long ruled that abuses committed by US or Israeli citizens on the territories of countries that are ICC members can be prosecuted. To date, the court has not sought to prosecute any US citizens. Rights observers have said that the US pressure campaign could have wide-ranging implications for the court’s investigations, particularly the network of local organisations and fact-finders upon which it relies to build cases.
The US has also urged other countries to withdraw from the court, suggesting it would assess allies’ relationship with the court when determining foreign assistance. The appeal has dovetailed with wariness from some ICC members over what they have called the unequal application of international law, with offenders in the Global South more likely to face accountability. In July, Chad and Venezuela moved to withdraw from the court, following Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger.
Friday’s announcement came just hours after the Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to South African jurist and former ICC judge Navi Pillay. The judges said the prize comes at a time when “judges and institutions of international law are under political attack”.
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