US imposes sanctions on International Criminal Court, blocking its assets

Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced on Friday, October 9, that the United States is sanctioning the International Criminal Court itself, designating the court under Executive Order 14203. "We will ban transactions with this rogue court, cutting off their resources and crippling its ability to operate," Rubio said in a statement. In a video posted on X, he said the United States and the American people "are not subject to the jurisdiction of this fake ICC," and added: "Either the ICC will end its threats, or we will end the ICC." [ 5 , 7 , 8 , 9 ]

Under the designation, the court's assets under U.S. jurisdiction are blocked and U.S. companies and individuals are generally barred from doing business with it, CBS News reported. The Hill reported that the U.S. can seize ICC property in the U.S. or held by a U.S. person, and The Wall Street Journal said the sanctions could cut the court off from the U.S. financial system and dollar transactions. The State Department said the Treasury is issuing general licenses, including a 180-day license for certain activity such as maintaining the court's operations, and others covering IT services including cloud and software, the ICC pension plan and ICC detainees. The Guardian reported that U.S. companies and individuals have six months to wind down business with the court. [ 6 , 8 , 9 , 12 , 13 ]

Rubio said the United States had deferred the designation in hopes the ICC would change course, and had structured the action "to provide an opportunity for States Parties to negotiate and present a solution to address our concerns." He said that "if these efforts do not bear fruit, we will continue to adjust accordingly." CBS News reported that he vowed to dismantle the court "brick by brick" if necessary. [ 7 , 12 ]

The ICC said in a statement that the sanctions are "an attempt to obstruct the course of justice" and "an assault on the rule of law and on the very foundations of the international legal order," warning that "history will judge this moment." The Hill reported that the court called them an unprecedented attack on an international judicial institution, and that ICC President Tomoko Akane, sanctioned by the Trump administration in August, said the court will not halt its work. [ 6 , 9 ]

The announcement came hours after the Norwegian Nobel Committee awarded the Nobel Peace Prize to Navanethem "Navi" Pillay, who served as an ICC judge from 2003 to 2008 and led a U.N. inquiry that determined Israel committed genocide in Gaza, findings Israel strongly disputed. The Associated Press reported that the move long predated the Nobel announcement. [ 5 , 6 , 12 ]

The State Department said 17 persons had already been sanctioned under the executive order; CBS News described them as more than a dozen of the court's judges and prosecutors. Neither the United States nor Israel is a party to the Rome Statute, and Washington has objected to the court's investigation of alleged war crimes by U.S. personnel in Afghanistan and its arrest warrants for Israeli leaders, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. On October 8 the New York Post reported, citing an internal memo, that diplomatic posts were being warned that further ICC action was imminent. [ 1 , 8 , 9 , 12 ]