THE US administration has announced new sanctions on four ICC officials in an attempt to hobble the international court.
The sanctions were immediately denounced by the ICC as a “flagrant attack against the independence of an impartial judicial institution” and “an affront against the Court’s states parties, the rules-based international order and, above all, millions of innocent victims across the world”.
The United Nations also gave its full support.
“We firmly believe that the ICC is a key pillar of international criminal justice, and we respect their work,” UN spokesperson, Stéphane Dujarric, said. “The decision imposes severe impediments on the functioning of the office of the prosecutor in respect for all the situations that are currently before the court.”
In November, the Hague-based court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former defence secretary Yoav Gallant for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity.
The sanctions on four ICC officials, including two judges and two prosecutors, comes after the US has already imposed penalties on the ICC’s former chief prosecutor, Karim Khan, who stepped aside in May pending an investigation into allegations of sexual misconduct – as well as four other judges.
The new penalties target ICC judges Kimberly Prost of Canada and Nicolas Guillou of France and prosecutors Nazhat Shameem Khan of Fiji and Mame Mandiaye Niang of Senegal.
“These individuals are foreign persons who directly engaged in efforts by the international criminal court to investigate, arrest, detain or prosecute nationals of the United States or Israel, without the consent of either nation,” US secretary of state, Marco Rubio said.
He added that the administration would continue “to take whatever actions we deem necessary to protect our troops, our sovereignty and our allies from the ICC’s illegitimate and baseless actions”.
