US sanctions entire ICC, tells allies relying on its military to rein in the court

The Trump administration announced sanctions on the International Criminal Court on 9 October (local time). Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement that President Trump would never allow the ICC to prosecute Americans and that the US was therefore imposing sanctions to cut off the court's resources and cripple its ability to operate by banning dealings with what he called a rogue court. Newsis and Dong-A Ilbo report that earlier US sanctions had targeted individual judges and prosecutors, and that the new measures extend sanctions to the court as a whole. [ 1 , 2 , 4 , 6 , 7 ]

Under the measures, all ICC assets within US jurisdiction are frozen, and US companies and individuals must end dealings with the court within six months. According to a State Department fact sheet cited by Newsis and Dong-A, ICC assets in the US or owned or controlled by US persons must be reported to the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control, and the Treasury issued a 180-day general license covering activities such as maintaining the court's operations, some IT activities including cloud and software, ICC pensions and matters involving ICC detainees. Newsis said the six-month wind-down period does not mean all sanctions are delayed by six months. [ 1 , 2 , 4 , 6 , 7 ]

Rubio said in a video message that many US allies are ICC members and depend on US forces for their defence, and that the US expects them to rein in the court. If they did not, he said, the US would continue its campaign to tear the ICC apart until Americans are no longer threatened. "Either the ICC ends the threat or we end the ICC," he said. He did not name any country; Yonhap and Chosun Ilbo said he may have had in mind NATO members or Japan, a major financial contributor to the court, while Newsis and Dong-A read the remarks as pressure on allies such as South Korea and Japan to withdraw. South Korea is a party to the Rome Statute. [ 1 , 2 , 4 , 6 ]

Rubio also said the US had for more than a year made clear the good-faith gestures it expected from the court and had held off on sanctions in the hope the ICC would change course or be restrained by its states parties, but that neither had taken substantive steps. He said the US had not abandoned hope of a diplomatic solution. Trump signed an executive order authorising ICC sanctions in February last year, and Rubio said in July he would begin steps to effectively neutralise the court. In August the State Department sanctioned two senior ICC officials, including ICC president Tomoko Akane, who is Japanese. [ 1 , 2 , 4 , 6 ]

The announcement came shortly after the Norwegian Nobel Committee named Navi Pillay, 85, a South African jurist who served as an ICC appeals judge from 2003 to 2008 and now sits as an ad hoc judge at the International Court of Justice, as this year's Nobel Peace Prize laureate for efforts to promote peace and international law. Yonhap and Chosun noted Trump has openly expressed a desire for the prize and said AP reported the sanctions were prepared well before the Nobel announcement, though both said it could not be ruled out that the award influenced the timing. Newsis and Dong-A also reported interpretations that the move could be preparation against possible investigations of Trump or senior officials. [ 1 , 2 , 4 , 6 ]

The ICC was established in 2002 to try genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity. It has 125 member states; the US, China, Russia and Israel are not members. Newsis and Dong-A said the US-ICC conflict intensified in 2020 when the court formally authorised an investigation into US forces in the Afghanistan war, and that the two sides also clashed over the arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after the Gaza war broke out. [ 1 , 2 , 4 , 6 ]

Europe expressed concern over the sanctions. Newsis, citing AFP, reported that the EU Commission expressed deep regret and said it would work with the 125 Rome Statute parties so the court can carry out its mandate independently. The foreign ministers of Canada, Denmark, Germany, France, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands and the UK reaffirmed support for the ICC's independence in a joint statement and warned the sanctions would have a serious impact on the court's work and staff. Belgian Foreign Minister Maxime Prevot (막심 프레보) called for the EU blocking statute to be activated, though no decision has been taken; Dutch Prime Minister Rob Jetten (롭 예턴) said the coming months leave room for dialogue, and Dutch Foreign Minister Tom Berendsen (톰 베렌드선) called the sanctions an undesirable new escalation. ICC president Akane said the court would continue its work in line with the law and evidence. [ 3 , 5 , 7 ]