US imposes new sanctions on ICC president

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Tuesday announced that the Trump administration has imposed sanctions on the president of the International Criminal Court (ICC) and a senior trial lawyer.

The move is the latest escalation in the Trump administration's attacks on the international body.

Established in 2002 and based in The Hague, Netherlands, the ICC prosecutes war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity. The US is not a member of the Court.

Rubio said the US — acting under authority of an executive order signed by President Donald Trump — had leveled sanctions against ICC President Tomoko Akane, a Japanese judge; and Abdoulaye Seye, a Senegalese trial lawyer at the ICC.

"These individuals," said Rubio, "have directly engaged in efforts by the ICC to investigate, arrest, detain, or prosecute officials whose government has not consented to ICC ‌jurisdiction."

Rubio wrote Tuesday on X that the move was part of Washington's "unwavering mission to protect Americans from this sham of a court."

The ICC asserts its jurisdiction only if member states are unable or unwilling to prosecute atrocities themselves.

However, the Court's statute also gives it the power to prosecute nationals of non-member states who commit atrocities on the territory of a member state.

Rubio argues the ICC poses a threat to US personnel carrying out President Trump's hardline immigration policies or "drug interdiction" strikes on boats in international waters, as well as other US ⁠service members.

"The Trump Administration has been clear: The International Criminal Court is a corrupt and fatally politicized supranational court that has maliciously abused its authority and exceeded its mandate," the State Department said in a statement. "We will not tolerate its assault on state sovereignty."