The International Criminal Court (ICC) is under attack from US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and his State Department for investigating the atrocities in Gaza and the US war crimes in Afghanistan.
4 ICC officials - ICC Trial Division Judges Kimberly Prost of Canada and Nicolas Guillou of France along with Deputy Prosecutors Nazhat Shameem Khan of Fiji and Mame Mandiaye Niang of Senegal were sanctioned by Rubio on Wednesday. The penalties mean any and all property and interests that the sanctioned ICC officials may hold in the US stand blocked.
Rubio went so far as to accuse the Hague-based international war-crimes tribunal of being a “national security threat” and “an instrument of lawfare” against the US and Israel. Mainly because Rubio and US President Donald Trump do not like the ICC engaging in efforts to prosecute US and Israeli citizens.
While the sanctions were immediately denounced by both the ICC and the United Nations, US’ long-time ally Israel welcomed the move.
The ICC called the latest sanctions “a flagrant attack” against its independence and impartiality while UN spokesperson, Stéphane Dujarric, said the UN was “very concerned”. Conversely, Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu welcomed the decision, calling it a “firm measure against the mendacious smear campaign against Israel”.
Wednesday’s move is the latest in a long line of actions carried out by the Trump administration against the ICC, dating back to his first term in office. Although some of those were rescinded by Joe Biden’s administration in early 2021.
Wednesday’s sanctions come after the US already hit the ICC’s Chief Prosecutor, Karim Khan KC, along with four other judges earlier this year. Furthermore, UN Human Rights Council special rapporteur Francesca Albanese, a prominent critic of Israel’s military offensive in Gaza, was also sanctioned in July.
125 countries are States Parties to the Rome Statute of the ICC. Of them - 33 are African States, 19 are Asia-Pacific States, 20 are from Eastern Europe, 28 are from Latin American and Caribbean States, and 25 are from Western European and other States.
However, heavyweights such as the US, China, Russia, and unsurprisingly Israel, do not recognise its authority.
These latest sanctions are very likely to impede the functioning of the court and the prosecutor’s office as they deal with major cases, including war crime allegations against Russia over its invasion of Ukraine.
