Why is the US sanctioning the International Criminal Court?

The United States has sanctioned the International Criminal Court (ICC), hours aft 1 of its erstwhile judges was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize successful what the Nobel committee said was, successful part, a amusement of enactment for institutions nether attack.

South African justice Navanethem “Navi” Pillay, who is presently a justice astatine the International Court of Justice (ICJ), besides successful The Hague, was announced winner of the prize connected Friday.

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Nobel Committee Chairman Jorgen Watne Frydnes said the strategy of planetary instrumentality was “under tremendous pressure” and its institutions were “under attack”.

“In awarding this year’s Nobel Peace Prize, the Norwegian Nobel Committee wants to punctual the satellite that the regularisation of instrumentality – nationalist and planetary – underpins the strategy we person acceptable up to guarantee bid and resoluteness conflicts non-violently. Peace requires justice,” the committee said.

The US determination follows sanctions it has already imposed this twelvemonth connected judges and different unit astatine the ICC.

Here’s what we know:

What has the US announced?

On Friday, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced the latest acceptable of US sanctions targeting the ICC, this clip focusing connected the tribunal itself, which was established successful 2002 to prosecute warfare crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity.

“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,” helium said successful a video shared connected societal media.

The Trump medication claims that the ICC has gone beyond its remit by pursuing non-member countries. In 2024, the Trump medication condemned the tribunal erstwhile it issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and erstwhile Defence Minister Yoav Gallant for suspected warfare crimes successful Gaza. It besides antecedently opened an probe into the actions of US soldiers successful Afghanistan.

The US and Israel are not parties to the Rome Statute, the pact that establishes the court’s jurisdiction. However, abuses committed by citizens of non-statute states successful ICC territories oregon countries tin inactive beryllium prosecuted.

“Either the ICC volition extremity its threats, oregon we volition extremity the ICC,” Rubio said successful a statement, adding that if the US allies failed to “rein successful the court”, the US would “continue its run to dismantle the ICC, ceramic by brick”.

What different sanctions has the US imposed connected the ICC?

These sanctions are conscionable the latest successful the US’s run against the ICC. Previous measures person targeted dozens of ICC judges and prosecutors, the UN peculiar rapporteur for Palestine, Francesca Albanese, and Palestinian rights groups which person provided grounds of warfare crimes committed by Israel to the court.

In August, ICC President Tomoko Akane and elder lawyer Abdoulaye Sey were besides sanctioned by the US, successful what Rubio said was the US’s unwavering ngo to support Americans from this sham of a court”.

Any assets they clasp successful the US are frozen, and US companies are constricted successful conducting transactions with them.

>What bash the latest sanctions mean successful practice?

The sanctions targeting the tribunal could spot companies that supply services to it penalised. They volition besides frost immoderate ICC assets held successful US territories.

However, they person fixed US companies a six-month grace play to wrapper up immoderate existing concern with the court. There are besides immoderate different exemptions allowing for definite transactions.

William Schabas, a prof of planetary instrumentality astatine Middlesex University successful London, told Al Jazeera that the tribunal has been “developing a program B” to get astir imaginable sanctions for much than a year.

This includes migrating to European alternatives to US software, and ending its narration with security institution Axa, which does concern with the US.

“How important this volition beryllium remains to beryllium seen,” helium said. “Obviously for the institution, it’s going to complicate things considerably.”

What person the responses to this been?

“What Trump is trying to bash is to marque the satellite harmless for American and Israeli warfare criminals,” Kenneth Roth, a elder chap astatine Yale University and erstwhile enforcement manager of Human Rights Watch, told Al Jazeera.

The ICC itself released a connection condemning the US move, which it said was an effort to “obstruct the people of justice” and intimidate those who enactment oregon cooperate with the court.

“It is an battle connected the regularisation of instrumentality and connected the precise foundations of the planetary ineligible bid which strikes astatine the elemental rule that nary 1 stands supra the law,” it said, calling connected its 125 states parties to instrumentality enactment to guarantee it tin proceed its work.

“History volition justice this moment. Future generations, and supra each the victims of wide atrocities, volition inquire however we responded erstwhile an instauration created to support them came nether attack,” it added.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said helium was “deeply alarmed” by the decision, adding that it was “a superior stroke to our corporate pursuit of planetary transgression justice”.

The overseas ministers of the UK, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Canada and Japan each said they “strongly disagree” with the sanctions, and warned of the important interaction they would person connected the court.

Netanyahu thanked Trump for his enactment connected societal media, and accused the ICC of being a “political assemblage that poses a mortal menace to law-abiding democracies worldwide”.

Is the US eroding the strategy of planetary law?

The US targeting of the ICC threatens the regularisation of law, arsenic planetary courts and tribunals indispensable beryllium capable to run without the menace of sanctions.

The US itself has repeatedly ignored planetary instrumentality nether President Trump. Its associated onslaught connected Iran with Israel successful February was criticised by observers arsenic being in violation of some US instrumentality and Article 2(4) of the UN Charter, portion the US subject abduction of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro from Caracas successful January was besides condemned arsenic illegal.

The Trump medication has besides launched strikes against alleged cause smuggling boats successful the Caribbean Sea and eastbound Pacific, sidesplitting much than 200 radical successful what UN quality rights experts pass are “extrajudicial and unlawful“.

Under Trump, the US has besides pulled retired of planetary organisations and agreements, from the Iran atomic woody (the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action) and the Paris Climate Agreement during Trump’s archetypal term, to the World Health Organization and the UN Human Rights Council, much recently.

“What Trump is doing is obstructing justice,” Roth said of the ICC sanctions. “If you look astatine Article 70 of the Rome Statute, it makes it a transgression to intimidate oregon endanger tribunal officials due to the fact that of their authoritative duties.”

“But the tribunal remains strong, it is precise susceptible of doing its work,” helium said, adding, “there’s important enactment for the tribunal to bash to support victims successful places similar Ukraine, Sudan, Myanmar, Afghanistan, the Philippines. This is enactment that should continue, and it will.”