Politics · India Bureau
US imposes sanctions on ICC president and prosecutor
The Trump administration has sanctioned the International Criminal Court's president and a senior prosecutor, escalating its campaign against the tribunal. The move targets what Washington says is the court's unfair pursuit of American and Israeli military personnel.
LSN India ·
The United States State Department on Tuesday announced sanctions against ICC President Tomoko Akane and senior trial lawyer Abdoulaye Seye, freezing any assets they hold within US jurisdiction or that touch the American financial system. Akane is a Japanese national, while Seye hails from Senegal.
The sanctions represent the latest escalation in the Trump administration's confrontation with the International Criminal Court, which Washington accuses of exceeding its mandate and unfairly targeting US and Israeli soldiers for alleged crimes in Afghanistan, Iraq and Gaza. Secretary of State Marco Rubio described the ICC as "a corrupt and fatally politicized supranational court that has maliciously abused its authority."
"We will not tolerate its assault on state sovereignty," Rubio said in a statement announcing the action. The administration has framed its opposition to the court as a matter of protecting American interests and those of its allies from what it views as overreach by an unaccountable international body.
The ICC, established in 2002 and based in The Hague, has jurisdiction over war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide. The court operates independently of the United Nations Security Council, though it can be constrained by political considerations of major powers.