US President Donald Trump has signed an executive order that places sanctions on the International Criminal Court (ICC). According to a White House official, the sanctions are in response to the ICC’s investigations into U.S. citizens and its allies, including Israel. The sanctions impose a ban on ICC officials from entering the United States. Trump’s executive order condemns the court’s actions, stating they create a “dangerous precedent”.
The executive order imposes financial and visa sanctions on individuals, along with their family members, who assist in the ICC’s investigations related to US citizens or its allies. These measures taken by Trump are intended to penalise those involved in efforts against US interests.
What is the International Criminal Court?
The International Criminal Court was founded in 2002 to hold individuals accountable for war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide, and acts of aggression, particularly when member states are either unwilling or unable to prosecute these crimes themselves. The ICC has jurisdiction over crimes committed by nationals of its member states, as well as crimes that take place within those countries’ territories, regardless of the perpetrator’s nationality.
Why did Trump approve sanctions against the ICC?
This move follows a recent block by Senate Democrats on a Republican-led initiative to sanction the ICC. The Republicans had protested the ICC’s arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former defense minister, stemming from their involvement in Israel’s military actions in Gaza. Netanyahu is currently in Washington.
This is not the first time that the US has retaliated against the ICC. During Trump’s first term, in 2020, the US imposed sanctions on ICC prosecutor Fatou Bensouda and one of her senior aides over the ICC’s investigation into alleged war crimes by US forces in Afghanistan.
ICC’s Response to Sanctions
The ICC has not immediately commented on the sanctions. However, Reuters’s sources revealed that the court had taken precautionary measures, including pre-paying salaries for staff to shield them from the anticipated US sanctions. These financial restrictions could severely impact the operations of the war crimes tribunal.
In December 2024, ICC President Tomoko Akane had issued a stern warning that sanctions would “rapidly undermine the Court’s operations in all situations and cases, and jeopardize its very existence.”
ICC’s arrest warrants for Netanyahu, Putin, and Hamas leader
The International Criminal Court has issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, his former defense minister Yoav Gallant, and Hamas leader Ibrahim al-Masri, also known as Mohammed Deif, for alleged war crimes related to the ongoing conflict in Gaza. Netanyahu is accused of criminal responsibility for actions including murder, persecution, and using starvation as a weapon of war.
The warrant for Hamas leader al-Masri charges him with crimes such as killing, rape, and hostage-taking, related to the attacks on Israel on October 7, 2023, which escalated the Gaza conflict.
In response, Netanyahu dismissed the charges, calling them anti-Semitic, absurd, and false.
Additionally, the ICC has also issued a warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin, accusing him of the war crime of illegally deporting hundreds of Ukrainian children. The Kremlin has rejected the charge, calling the ICC’s actions meaningless. Russia continues to deny allegations of war crimes committed during its invasion of Ukraine.
(With AP, Reuters Inputs)