US announces sanctions vs ICC
WASHINGTON—The United States on Friday announced sanctions on the International Criminal Court (ICC), vowing to cripple the tribunal’s operations just hours after the Nobel Peace Prize went to a former ICC judge who warned of mounting political attacks on the court.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Washington would ban transactions with what he called a “rogue court,” escalating a long-running campaign by the Trump administration against the Hague-based tribunal.
“Either the ICC will end its threats, or we will end the ICC,” Rubio said in a statement.
Grace period
The immediate impact of the sanctions, however, was softened by a de facto six-month grace period outlining a series of exemptions.
The State Department said this was meant to give the court’s member states time to show “meaningful progress” toward addressing US concerns.
The grace period could be adjusted depending on the “success or failure” of those efforts, the State Department said.
Countries including Canada, France, Germany, Japan and the United Kingdom issued a joint statement saying they “strongly disagree” with Washington’s announcement.
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called the US decision “a serious blow to our collective pursuit of international criminal justice, of which the ICC is a key pillar.”
‘Deeply regrettable’
The European Union called the sanctions “deeply regrettable” and said it was “ready to take any necessary measures to enable the court to carry out its work.”
The European Commission, the EU’s executive arm, said it hoped the six-month delay meant “there is room for dialogue.”
The ICC also issued a statement rejecting the US sanctions as an attack on international law, warning that “history will judge this moment.”
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