EU calls US sanctions on International Criminal Court 'regrettable'

The United States has imposed sanctions on the International Criminal Court, aiming to cripple its operations. According to US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, the sanctions were imposed because the court is targeting Americans and is described as a "rogue court". The move is intended to cut off the court's resources and prevent it from prosecuting Americans.

The sanctions were announced on the same day that former ICC judge Navi Pillay was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for her work in international criminal justice. The US administration has long been opposed to the ICC, particularly over its arrest warrants against Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and its past investigation into alleged crimes by US soldiers in Afghanistan.

The ICC's Deputy Prosecutor, Nazhat Shameem Khan, condemned the move, saying it would not deter the court from carrying out its responsibilities. Khan described the sanctions as an attempt to undermine the rule of law internationally and the work of an independent judicial institution. The US move has been seen as an escalation of a long-running campaign by the Trump administration against the Hague-based tribunal.

Brief written by urgent.news from CBC News, Punch, Punch Nigeria, The Indian Express, Dawn — 5 reports on this story. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.