The International Criminal Court (ICC) has strongly rejected new sanctions announced by the United States (U.S.) on Wednesday targeting four of its personnel, marking a renewed escalation related to investigations involving U.S. and Israeli officials.
The sanctions are directed at judges Kimberly Prost of Canada and Nicolas Guillou of France, as well as two deputy prosecutors: Nazhat Shameem Khan of Fiji and Mame Mandiaye Niang of Senegal.
These measures follow earlier sanctions against four other judges and the ICC Prosecutor.
The United Nations emphasised the ICC’s crucial role in international criminal justice and expressed concern over the imposition of further sanctions.
“The decision imposes severe impediments on the functioning of the Office of the Prosecutor and respect for all situations currently before the Court,” UN Spokesman Stéphane Dujarric told journalists in New York.
“Judicial independence is a fundamental principle that must be respected, and these types of measures undermine the foundation of international justice.”
In a statement announcing the new sanctions, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio described the ICC as “a national security threat that has been an instrument for lawfare against the United States and our close ally, Israel.”
The UN-backed court condemned the sanctions as “a flagrant attack against the independence of an impartial judicial institution.”
They further stated that the sanctions “constitute an affront against the Court’s States Parties, the rules-based international order, and, above all, millions of innocent victims across the world.”
The ICC investigates the gravest crimes of concern to the international community: genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity, and the crime of aggression.
It was established under the 1998 Rome Statute treaty, which came into force in 2002.
Neither the United States nor Israel are among the 125 States Parties to the treaty.
In November 2024, the ICC issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant, along with a former Hamas commander.
The warrants are connected to the conflict in Gaza and cite allegations of war crimes and crimes against humanity.
The Court is also probing alleged war crimes committed in Afghanistan by all sides during years of conflict, including the U.S., following the allied invasion in May 2003.
The ICC reiterated that it “stands firmly behind its personnel and victims of unimaginable atrocities.”
It added that it “will continue fulfilling its mandates, undeterred, in strict accordance with its legal framework as adopted by the States Parties and without regard to any restriction, pressure, or threat.”
The Court called upon “States Parties and all those who share the values of humanity and the rule of law to provide firm and consistent support to the Court and its work, carried out in the sole interest of victims of international crimes”.
