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The announcement by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio came hours after South African jurist Navi Pillay, a former ICC judge, was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
Combo pic: US President Donald Trump and South African judge Navanethem “Navi” Pillay. (AFP photos)
The US on Friday imposed sanctions on the International Criminal Court (ICC), vowing to cripple the tribunal’s operations in an escalating clash over its authority to prosecute alleged war crimes.
The announcement by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio came hours after South African jurist Navi Pillay, a former ICC judge, was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
“Either the ICC will end its threats, or we will end the ICC,” Rubio said, accusing the Hague-based court of targeting American officials and undermining US sovereignty.
However, exemptions announced by the State Department effectively provide a six-month grace period, allowing ICC member states time to address Washington’s concerns.
Pillay, 85, was recognised for her work in international justice. She previously led the tribunal that investigated the Rwanda genocide, served as an ICC judge and headed a UN commission that accused Israel of genocide in Gaza.
Washington Steps Up Pressure
Rubio said US President Donald Trump would not allow the court to prosecute American citizens, stressing that the United States was not a member of the ICC.
He said Washington had given the court and its member states more than a year to take what the administration considered meaningful steps to resolve its concerns, but no sufficient progress had been made.
Rubio also urged US allies that belong to the court to help rein it in, warning that Washington would continue working to dismantle the institution “brick by brick”.
The Trump administration has previously sanctioned 17 people linked to the ICC, including its prosecutor and several judges, over investigations involving the United States and Israel.
Global Backlash Over Sanctions
The ICC condemned the latest measures as an attack on international law, warning that “history will judge this moment”.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called the decision as “a serious blow” to international criminal justice, while the European Union called the sanctions “deeply regrettable”.
Canada, France, Germany, Japan and the United Kingdom also expressed strong disagreement with Washington’s move.
Amnesty International urged governments to resist the sanctions, arguing that they were intended to isolate and ultimately destroy the court.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who faces an ICC arrest warrant over alleged crimes in Gaza, welcomed the US decision, calling the tribunal as a political body.
“The ICC is not a court. It is a political body that poses a mortal threat to law-abiding democracies worldwide and to the very idea of national sovereignty,” his office posted on X.
(With inputs from agencies)
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Ask News18The US administration imposed sweeping sanctions on the International Criminal Court because it accused the tribunal of targeting American officials and undermining US sovereignty, stating it would dismantle the institution brick by brick.
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