Trump sanctions ICC

Washington is punishing the Hague-based court for its charges against Israeli political leaders

US President Donald Trump has signed an executive order imposing sanctions on the International Criminal Court (ICC) for investigating the US and its allies. Last November the Hague-based court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former defense minister, Yoav Gallant, in a move that angered US officials. 

Trump’s executive order will enforce financial and visa-related sanctions on individuals and families who support ICC investigations into US citizens or allied nations.

The ICC has been preparing for a “swift assault” from the new US administration, the Guardian reported last month, citing sources within the organization. The measures could affect the ICC’s access to banking and payment systems, IT infrastructure, and insurance providers, the publication said. It could also “paralyze” the court’s work and pose “an existential threat” to its functioning.

Earlier this month, the US House of Representatives voted to impose sanctions that would cancel US visas and place financial restrictions on any ICC officials prosecuting US “allies.” 

The US adopted the American Service-Members’ Protection Act in 2002 – nicknamed “The Hague Invasion Act.” The legislation was designed to protect American military personnel, as well as elected and appointed officials, from prosecution by international legal bodies which Washington has not recognized.

The act authorizes the US president to use “all means necessary and appropriate to bring about the release of any US or allied personnel” detained or imprisoned on behalf of the ICC, since the US is not a party to the Rome Statute regulating its activities. The authorization implies potential military action, leading to the act’s informal name.

The ICC’s attempt to investigate alleged American war crimes in Afghanistan in 2020 resulted in the US placing sanctions on then prosecutor Fatou Bensouda. 

The court has accused Netanyahu and Gallant of using starvation as a method of warfare in Gaza, as well as deliberately depriving the enclave’s civilian population of essential supplies such as food, water, and medicine without any “obvious military necessity.”  Washington says the ICC lacks jurisdiction over Israel, since it is also not a signatory to the Rome Statute. 

Last year, however, the US praised Karim Khan, the same ICC prosecutor who requested arrest warrants against Israeli leaders, when he brought charges against Russian President Vladimir Putin. Moscow is not a party to the agreement establishing the court.