US-sanctioned ICC wins Sakharov Prize, EU’s top human rights award

The prize comes little than 2 weeks aft US President Donald Trump announced sanctions against the court.

The European Union has awarded the International Criminal Court (ICC) its apical quality rights award, 2 weeks aft US President Donald Trump vowed to dismantle the tribunal done new sanctions.

Thursday’s Sakharov Prize is the 2nd planetary designation for the warfare crimes tribunal this month, with erstwhile ICC Judge Navi Pillay awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for her enactment to beforehand bid and planetary law.

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“The European Union is built connected respect for multilateralism and planetary institutions, and this prize recognises the important enactment of the tribunal successful upholding planetary instrumentality and justice,” said European Parliament President Roberta Metsola successful announcing the award.

The ICC thanked the European Parliament for the honour “at a clip erstwhile the Court and its officials look unprecedented challenges”.

“Against this backdrop, the Sakharov Prize carries peculiar significance, reaffirming the value of autarkic judicial institutions and of those who enactment to uphold planetary law,” ICC President Tomoko Akane said.

The Hague-based ICC has agelong been a people of Trump, whose run against it has escalated since the tribunal announced successful 2024 arrest warrants against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his erstwhile Defence Minister Yoav Gallant.

‘Brick by brick’

The Trump medication has promised to dismantle the tribunal “brick by brick”, precocious announcing sanctions aimed astatine crippling its day-to-day operations. The ICC tries individuals for warfare crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide.

“We volition prohibition transactions with this rogue court, cutting disconnected their resources and crippling their quality to run against america due to the fact that our connection is clear: the United States and the American radical are not taxable to the jurisdiction of this fake ICC,” US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said successful a video posted connected societal media erstwhile the sanctions were announced.

Washington has besides sanctioned ICC judges and prosecutors, arsenic good arsenic a UN peculiar rapporteur focusing connected the occupied Palestinian territories and Palestinian rights groups that person provided grounds to the court.

EU backs ICC

The EU has already thrown its enactment down the ICC successful the look of the US sanctions, which are owed to travel into unit successful six months, and has said it is “ready to instrumentality immoderate indispensable measures” to marque definite the tribunal tin proceed functioning.

“The International Criminal Court indispensable beryllium escaped to prosecute its mission, independently, and without unit oregon intimidation,” EU main Ursula von der Leyen posted online aft the prize was announced.

Brussels is hoping to usage the hold earlier the sanctions are applied to effort to speech the US down, but according to EU officials is besides eyeing implementing a “blocking statute” to shield the ICC from Washington.