US imposes sanctions aiming to 'dismantle' International Criminal Court
Deutsche Welle · LC · trust 48/100
The US has announced new sanctions on the International Criminal Court. It's the latest in a series of steps by the Donald Trump administration as it seeks to "dismantle" the intergovernmental organization.
https://p.dw.com/p/5O4Qb The US has had the ICC on its radar more or less throughout the second Trump term Image: John Thys/AFP Advertisement US President Donald Trump 's administration imposed sanctions on the International Criminal Court (ICC) on Friday, hours after one of its former judges won the Nobel Peace Prize.
This comes as the US has in recent months made no bones about pursuing what Secretary of State Marco Rubio has called a "sweeping campaign to dismantle the threat posed by the International Criminal Court."
The United States and Israel had both strongly opposed the court's arrest warrants for top Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu .
Since 2020 and the back end of Trump's first term, the US had also opposed investigations into military actions in Afghanistan that "deprioritize" alleged US wrongdoings, focusing on the Taliban, but can nevertheless include them.
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"President Trump will never allow the International Court to prosecute Americans," Rubio said in a statement .
"That is why, today, the United States is sanctioning the International Criminal Court. We will ban transactions with this rogue court, cutting off their resources and crippling its ability to operate," he said.
Rubio said that both US political parties had long agreed that the ICC should not have jurisdiction over US citizens, but said "only President Trump" resolved to take action.
"Either the ICC will end its threats, or we will end the ICC. We expect our allies, many of whom are part of the ICC and that rely on American servicemembers for their defense, to rein in the court," Rubio said. "If they do not, the United States will continue its campaign to dismantle the ICC, brick by brick, until Americans are threatened no longer."
The ICC said the US sanctions aimed to obstruct an independent international court supported by more than half of the UN's members.
"The court will continue to fully discharge its mandate, with independence and impartiality, acting only on the basis of the law and the evidence, for the sake of the countless victims of grave crimes," said ICC President Tomoko Akane, who already faces US sanctions .
The ICC called the Rome Statute, which underpins membership of the court, a "collective promise" that the most serious international crimes must not go unpunished.
"That promise is only as strong as the resolve of those who made it," the court said. It appealed to members to take "concrete actions" to ensure the court would still have the necessary means to continue its work.
"No one should be punished for serving the cause of justice," it said. "History will judge this moment. Future generations, and above all the victims of mass atrocities, will ask how we responded when an insitution created to protect them came under attack."
The State Department released the announcement a few hours after the 2026 Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to Navi Pillay, who was an ICC judge from 2003 to 2012.
Last year Trump repeatedly complained that he should have won the accolade for promoting world peace, prompting Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado to present him with her trophy as a gift .
Without naming names, the Nobel Committee clearly referenced US sanctions against the ICC when announcing Pillay as this year's laureate.
"The Norwegian Nobel Committee wants to remind the world that the rule of law national and international — underpins the system we have set up to ensure peace and resolve conflicts non-violently," the Committee wrote.
It said judges like Pillay "guard the thin red line between order and chaos," but lamented that "today ... these same judges are sanctioned, and their institutions are attacked."
The International Criminal Court is an intergovernmental organization and international tribunal based in the Dutch city of The Hague.
It's the only permanent international court with the theoretical jurisdiction to prosecute individuals for international crimes like genocide , crimes against humanity, war crimes and illegal aggression.
The ICC was established in 2002 and is governed by the Rome Statute.
More than half the countries in the world, 125 in total, are full parties to the Rome Statute, having signed and ratified it.
Several of the world's most significant powers, including China, India, Israel, Russia and the United States, do not recognize the court's jurisdiction and are not parties to the statute.
A grey area, however, remains since the court accepts challenges from ratified members against individuals from countries that do not recognize it.
That is why high-profile arrest warrants against Russian officials, including President Vladimir Putin, and Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, have been issued in recent years — following respective complaints from Ukrainians and Palestinians.
The US has been increasingly critical of the ICC during Trump's second term.
Rubio has often led the charge. In July, he wrote an op-ed for the Wall Street Journal saying, "America never agreed to a world tribunal that can override our own courts and the Constitution."
He argued it was possible for US "soldiers, police officers, Border Patrol agents and elected leaders" to be "dragged before an international court" and tried by judges "from random countries across the globe."
Just over a week later, on July 25, Venezuela's new administration — transformed after the US abduction of Nicolas Maduro in January — announced that it planned to withdraw from the Rome Statute and the ICC.
A few days later, the military junta in Chad announced that it was…
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