The Trump administration imposed sanctions on the International Criminal Court itself on Friday, hours after one of the court’s former judges won the Nobel Peace Prize, escalating Washington’s campaign against the tribunal from targeting individual officials to targeting the institution. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the United States would ban transactions with the court, cutting off its resources and crippling its ability to operate. “President Trump will never allow the International Criminal Court to prosecute Americans,” Rubio said in a statement.
The move goes further than previous rounds, which sanctioned prosecutors and judges. Sanctioning the court itself would typically bar all US-based companies from working with it, forcing banks to shut accounts, insurers to end coverage and software companies to halt cooperation. Rubio said the sanctions were structured to give the court and its member states an opportunity to address US concerns, and a senior State Department official said Treasury would issue licenses “to protect American interests,” an apparent reference to temporary exemptions.
The timing landed with force. Navi Pillay, the South African jurist who served on the ICC’s Appeals Chamber from 2003 to 2008, won the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday for her work in international criminal justice. The prize committee said it had sought to “issue a reminder” at a time when “judges and institutions of international law are under political attack,” calling an international legal system that holds war criminals to account “a precondition for a peaceful world.” Israel condemned the award, saying it legitimized “anti-Israel hatred” and pointing to Pillay’s leadership of the UN commission of inquiry that found Israel was committing genocide in Gaza.
The European Commission responded with a statement calling the US announcement “deeply regrettable,” pledging to work closely with the court to keep it operating effectively and to work with all 125 Rome Statute states parties to preserve the court’s independence. The Commission noted a six-month delay before the measures apply, leaving room for dialogue, and said the EU stands ready to take any necessary measures to protect the interests of EU operators in the single market, without naming the blocking statute that the ICC’s registrar has asked the EU to activate. The court’s deputy prosecutor said the sanctions “must be condemned” and would not halt its work.
Washington’s grievance centers on ICC arrest warrants for Israeli officials including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and a past investigation of US soldiers in Afghanistan. Rubio said the US had delayed the sanctions hoping the court and its member states would address American concerns, and demanded allies “rein in the court.” Court officials have been preparing for months, shifting office computers to open-source software and making new banking and health-insurance arrangements after a Paris insurer terminated its ICC contract rather than choose between the court and access to the American financial system.