The United States has announced additional sanctions against members of the International Criminal Court (ICC), escalating its confrontation with the Hague-based tribunal. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Tuesday that the Trump regime had imposed sanctions on ICC President Tomoko Akane, a Japanese judge, and Abdoulaye Seye, a Senegalese trial lawyer.

The ICC, established in 2002, prosecutes war crimes, genocide, and crimes against humanity. The US regime is not a party to the Rome Statute, yet it claims the court poses a threat to American personnel, including those involved in immigration enforcement and drug interdiction operations. Rubio stated that the sanctioned individuals "directly engaged in efforts by the ICC to investigate, arrest, detain, or prosecute officials whose government has not consented to ICC jurisdiction."

The Trump regime has repeatedly criticized the ICC, with Rubio calling it a "sham of a court" in a post on X. The State Department alleged that the ICC is "corrupt and fatally politicized" and has "maliciously abused its authority." The sanctions bar Akane and Seye from entering the US and from conducting financial transactions within the US system.

This is not the first such action. Last year, the US regime imposed sanctions on ICC officials after the court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant over the Gaza conflict. The Trump regime has also launched a diplomatic campaign to persuade other nations to withdraw from the ICC, with Chad and Venezuela reportedly heeding the call.

The ICC responded defiantly, stating it remains "undeterred" and stands behind its staff. The court argued that "measures targeting judges, prosecutors and staff who work towards the fulfillment of the mandate that was conferred to the ICC by states undermine the rule of law." It warned that "when judicial actors are threatened for applying the law, it is the international legal order itself that is placed at risk."

Critics, including human rights groups, have sued the Trump regime over the sanctions, arguing that they deny justice to victims of war crimes. The ICC's statement emphasized that the sanctions threaten the entire international legal framework, not just individual officials.

Source: www.dw.com