WASHINGTON
The International Criminal Court on Friday condemned U.S. sanctions over probes targeting America and Israel and pledged to press on with its aim to fight for “justice and hope” around the world.
The United Nations and the European Union urged U.S. President Donald Trump to reverse the asset freezes and travel bans against ICC officials, employees and their families and anyone deemed to have helped ICC investigations.
U.S. allies, including Britain, France and Canada, were among 79 ICC member states who said the U.S. action “could jeopardize” the safety of victims, witnesses and court officials.
The sanctions could also hit the court’s technical and IT operations, including evidence gathering. There were also fears that victims might now hesitate to come forward.
Trump signed an executive order Thursday saying the court based in The Hague had “abused its power” by issuing an arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who held talks with the U.S. president on Tuesday.
The ICC said the sanctions sought to “harm its independent and impartial judicial work”.
“The court stands firmly by its personnel and pledges to continue providing justice and hope to millions of innocent victims of atrocities across the world,” it added.
‘Undermines’ justice system
The United Nations urged Trump to reverse the move.
“The court should be fully able to undertake its independent work — where a state is unwilling or unable genuinely to carry out the investigation or prosecution,” U.N. human rights office OHCHR spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani told AFP in an email.
“The rule of law remains essential to our collective peace and security. Seeking accountability globally makes the world a safer place for everyone.”
Antonio Costa, who heads the European Council representing the EU’s 27 member states, wrote on X that the move “undermines the international criminal justice system”.
The European Commission separately expressed “regret” and stressed the ICC’s “key importance in upholding international criminal justice and the fight against impunity”.
Ukraine’s foreign ministry spokesman Georgiy Tykhy also expressed concern.
“We hope that they will not affect the court’s ability to achieve justice for the victims of Russian aggression,” he said.
Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof called the U.S. action a “disturbing signal”.
As court’s host, the Netherlands would seek to maintain the “unhindered functioning” of the ICC, he added.
The 79 ICC member countries said Trump’s sanctions increased the “risk of impunity” for serious crimes and “threaten to erode the international rule of law”.
That statement was led by Slovenia, Luxembourg, Mexico, Sierra Leone and Vanuatu but Brazil, Britain, Canada, France and Germany were among the signatories.
ICC ‘illegitimate’: Trump
The names of individuals affected by sanctions were not immediately released, but previous U.S. sanctions under Trump targeted the court’s prosecutor.
Trump’s order said the tribunal had engaged in “illegitimate and baseless actions targeting America and our close ally Israel,” referring to ICC probes into alleged war crimes by U.S. service members in Afghanistan and Israeli troops in Gaza.
Israel’s foreign minister Gideon Saar strongly applauded Trump and called the court’s actions against Israel “immoral” and without “legal basis”.
Neither the United States nor Israel are members of the court.
Following a request by ICC prosecutor Karim Khan, judges issued arrest warrants on November 21 for Netanyahu, his former defence minister Yoav Gallant, and Hamas’s military chief Mohammed Deif who was killed last year.
The court said it had found “reasonable grounds” to believe Netanyahu and Gallant bore “criminal responsibility” for the war crime of starvation as a method of warfare in Gaza, as well as crimes against humanity of murder, persecution, and other inhumane acts.
Netanyahu accused the court of anti-Semitism.
During his first term, Trump imposed financial sanctions and a visa ban on the ICC’s then prosecutor Fatou Bensouda, and other senior officials in 2020.
His administration acted after Gambian-born Bensouda launched an investigation into allegations of war crimes against U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan. Bensouda also opened a probe into events in the Palestinian territories in 2019.
Current prosecutor Khan later effectively dropped the U.S. from the Afghan investigation and focused on the Taliban instead.
President Joe Biden lifted the sanctions after taking office in 2021.
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