The US government has imposed sanctions on the Japanese president of the International Criminal Court (ICC), Tomoko Akane. Senegalese jurist Abdoulaye Seye was also placed on the sanctions list. The measures stem from an order by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
Rubio justified the sanctions in a statement, saying that those affected had repeatedly been involved in investigations or arrests against officials whose governments had not consented to the ICC’s jurisdiction.
ICC calls it an attack on the rule of law
The ICC responded promptly, stating that the US sanctions undermine the rule of law. “When justice officials are threatened for applying the law, the international legal order itself is endangered,” the court said.
The measures are widely seen as retaliation for the ICC’s investigations against Israel, a close US ally. In 2024, the court issued an arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over possible war crimes in the Gaza Strip.
Background: Attack on the court
In July, the US intensified its campaign against the court and urged other countries to withdraw from the institution. Venezuela and Chad followed suit. The ICC expressed concern, saying the US decision undermines the rule of law.
The US signed the Rome Statute establishing the ICC but never ratified it. Israel and Russia are also not members. Rubio called the court a “corrupt and fatally politicized supranational court” that maliciously abuses its powers. Last week, four human rights organizations sued US Donald Trump in New York over the sanctions against the ICC, arguing that the measures prevent victims of war crimes from obtaining justice.
The ICC was founded in 2002 and prosecutes the most serious crimes, such as genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity.
Source: www.spiegel.de
