US hits ICC president and senior prosecutor with sanctions in another move against the court

The United States has sanctioned the president of the International Criminal Court (ICC) and one of its senior prosecutors in a continued effort to dismantle the tribunal, which the US accuses of unfairly prosecuting American and Israeli soldiers for alleged crimes in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Gaza. The sanctions, imposed by the Trump administration, freeze any assets held by ICC President Tomoko Akane, a Japanese national, and senior trial lawyer Abdoulaye Seye, a Senegalese national, in U.S. jurisdictions or involving the U.S. financial system.

State Department Secretary of State Marco Rubio condemned the International Criminal Court as corrupt and politically motivated, stating that the US will not tolerate its interference with state sovereignty. The ICC swiftly responded, alleging that the sanctions undermine the rule of law, emphasizing that when judicial actors are threatened for applying the law, it risks the entire international legal order.