US-Sanktionen: USA verhängen weitreichende Sanktionen gegen den Internationalen Strafgerichtshof

The United States under President Donald Trump has imposed extensive sanctions on the International Criminal Court (ICC) just hours after former ICC judge Navi Pillay received the Nobel Peace Prize. The move comes as Washington faces diplomatic conflict with European allies. The U.S. has long been hostile to the court and previously imposed targeted sanctions on individual prosecutors and judges.

However, the new measures are far-reaching and could affect companies providing services to the court. President Trump pledged never to allow the ICC to prosecute U.S. citizens, leading to the implementation of sanctions to prohibit transactions with the "scourge of a rogue court," restrict its resources, and cripple its work. Washington is particularly angered by the court's issuance of arrest warrants for Israeli government representatives, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, as well as past investigations into alleged crimes by U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan, which the court subsequently dropped.

The ICC, established in 2002 to prosecute war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide, has 125 member states, including all EU countries and NATO members except the U.S. and Turkey. Navi Pillay, the ICC's deputy prosecutor, strongly criticized the U.S. actions, stating that they undermine international rule of law and the work of an independent judicial institution.

Despite the court's efforts to continue its work, the U.S. remains defiant, threatening to terminate the ICC or negotiate a solution with its allies, who include many NATO members involved in defending the court.