The International Criminal Court on Wednesday hit back at the Trump administration one day after US Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced new sanctions against ICC officials.
The ICC described the new sanctions, which target President Tomoko Akane and senior trial lawyer Abdoulaye Saye, as “a flagrant attack against the independence of an impartial judicial institution.”
“When judicial actors are threatened for applying the law, it is the international legal order itself that is placed at risk,” the ICC said. “Threats 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.”
However, the court said that it is “undeterred” from pursuing its mission, while pledging to stand “firmly behind its personnel and behind victims of unimaginable atrocities.”
In total, the US has now sanctioned half of the ICC’s 18 judges, as well as both of the court’s deputy prosecutors, a former prosecutor, and a staff member.
The sanctions on the ICC also drew condemnation from the government of the Netherlands, where the court is physically located.
In a social media post, Dutch Foreign Minister Tom Berendsen insisted that “international courts and tribunals must be able to freely carry out their mandates,” and pledged to “fully support the court and its staff.”
Balkees Jarrah, the Middle East and North Africa director at Human Rights Watch, said the sanctions were “just the latest example of the Trump administration’s utter contempt for international law and a naked attempt to shield American and Israeli officials implicated in serious crimes from justice.”
Although no American is currently under investigation or being tried by the ICC, the Trump administration has been targeting ICC officials who have been investigating alleged war crimes committed by Israel with the backing of the US government.
Saye, a target of Tuesday’s US sanctions, was charged with investigating war crimes allegedly committed by Israel during its yearslong assault on Gaza.
The Trump administration also sanctioned then-ICC prosecutor Karim Khan, who obtained arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza, last year.
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