ICC says US sanctions on top court members 'undermine rule of law'
The US on Tuesday imposed sanctions against two top members of the International Criminal Court (ICC) which the court said "undermine the rule of law". The move represents the Trump administration's latest salvo against the court based in The Hague, which was set up in 2002 by the international community to prosecute war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity.
The United States has imposed sanctions on two top members of the International Criminal Court (ICC). The ICC President, Tomoko Akane, a Japanese judge, and senior trial lawyer, Abdoulaye Seye, a Senegalese national, were sanctioned under an executive order signed by President Donald Trump last year.
The US cited the ICC's efforts to investigate, arrest, detain, or prosecute officials whose government has not consented to ICC jurisdiction. The sanctions freeze any US assets held by the sanctioned individuals and effectively cut them off from the US financial system.
The move is part of the Trump administration's campaign against the Hague-based court, which was established in 2002 by the international community to prosecute war crimes, genocide, and crimes against humanity. The US is not a member of the court. According to Punch Nigeria and Punch, the sanctions also relate to the court's arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant, as well as a previous ICC investigation into US troops in Afghanistan.
Brief written by urgent.news from France 24, Punch Nigeria, Punch, NDTV — 4 reports on this story. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
