President Donald Trump’s administration threatened to punish officials at the International Criminal Court (ICC), naming four judges as having committed “illegitimate and baseless conduct” against the United States and its allies.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio made the announcement on Thursday in a concise statement.
Rubio wrote that the ICC is “politized and falsely claims unfettered discretion to investigate, charge, and prosecute citizens of the United States and our allies.”
The United States and our allies, including Israel, are in violation of this dangerous assertion and abuse of power.
Solomy Balungi Bossa of Uganda, Luz del Carmen Ibanez Carranza of Peru, Reine Adelaide Sophie Alapini Gansou of Benin, and Slovenian Beti Hohler are the four sanctioned judges.
The judges will have their US-based property and assets blocked as a result of the sanctions. Additionally, it is against the law for US-based companies to conduct business with them, even through “provision of funds, goods, or services.”
The ICC responded with a quick statement, saying it “deplores” the Trump administration’s decision and stood by its judges.
The statement read, “These measures are a clear attempt to undermine the independence of an international judicial institution that operates under the authority of 125 States Parties from all corners of the globe,” the statement said.
“Targeting those who seek accountability is ineffective for helping civilians who are ensnared in conflict.” It only encourages those who think they can commit crimes with impunity.
The judges are who?
In a fact sheet, the State Department stated that during Trump’s first term as president, Bossa and Ibanez Carranza were fined for launching an investigation into US forces in Afghanistan in 2020.
Prior to this time, the ICC had blocked a request to investigate allegations of war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in Afghanistan, which the US had been fighting steadily from 2001 to 2021.
The following year, it reversed course, granting a prosecutor’s request to look into US forces and Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) personnel for war crimes committed in “secret detention facilities” in Afghanistan and other locations.
The court made the point that Afghanistan was a member of the 125 nations that the ICC has jurisdiction over.
The ICC was described as a “political institution masquerading as a legal body” by the Trump administration at the time, though. The US, which is not a member of the Rome Statute, is argued for a while that the ICC is not competent.
Israel, which has used comparable arguments to reject the ICC’s authority over its actions in Palestine, is another non-member of the Rome Statute.
According to the US State Department, Alapini Gansou and Hohler, the second pair of judges named in Thursday’s sanctions were given criminal penalties for their conduct against Israeli leaders.
Israel’s oldest ally was the US, which recognized the nation in 1948. Since then, it has extended its strong support to Israel, including in the ongoing conflict in Gaza, which has so far claimed the lives of 54, 607 Palestinians.
As reports of alleged human rights violations continue to surface, experts at the UN and human rights organizations have compared Israel’s military campaign in Gaza to genocide.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant have both been accused of war crimes in Gaza, including intentional attacks on civilians, and the ICC issued arrest warrants for them in November 2024 as a result of those accusations.
Hohler and Alapini Gansou reportedly participated in those negotiations.
Has this ever occurred before?
Since Trump took office for a second term on January 20th, the US has placed restrictions on an ICC official for the first time.
Trump issued a broad executive order shortly after taking office that slapped anyone who participated in ICC investigations. Critics warned that broad language like that could obstruct the administration of justice, for instance by barring witnesses from presenting evidence.
Trump argued, however, that such measures were required by the recent arrest warrants for Gallant and Netanyahu.
He added that the ICC’s investigations threatened military members with “harassment, abuse, and possible arrest” and that the US and Israel were “thriving democracies” that “strictly adhere to the laws of war.”
The executive order stated that “this malign behavior in turn threatens to infringe on the United States’ sovereignty and undermines the United States Government’s and our allies’ critical efforts in foreign policy, including Israel.
Karim Khan, a prosecutor for the ICC, was sanctioned by the US in accordance with that order after petitioning the court for the arrest warrants for Gallant and Netanyahu. In response, the investigation into Israel’s actions in Gaza was slowed down, and Khan later resigned because of sexual misconduct allegations.
Trump has a history of opposing the ICC, which dates back to the beginning of his presidency. For instance, Trump announced that his administration would refuse or yank visas for ICC officials involved in the US military’s investigation of Afghan troops in 2019.
In response, he sanctioned Fatou Bensouda, the prosecutor of the ICC, and Phakiso Mochochoko, a court official, for their involvement in the investigation in 2020. Under President Joe Biden, those choices were later reversed.
However, critics warn that Trump’s actions could have long-term detrimental effects for the ICC, which relies on its members to carry out arrest warrants and other orders. The court has requested that the threats be removed.
