MWE Correspondent
The administration of U.S. President Donald Trump is preparing sweeping sanctions targeting the International Criminal Court (ICC) as an institution, according to people familiar with the matter, in what would mark a significant escalation of Washington’s measures against the Hague-based tribunal.
The proposed measures would go beyond the sanctions already imposed on individual ICC judges and prosecutors. If implemented, U.S. citizens and companies could generally be prohibited from providing funds, goods or services to the court without authorization from the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC).
What Could the Sanctions Affect?
The measures could have an impact on the ICC’s day-to-day operations, particularly because the court relies on international companies and financial services for some of its activities.
ICC officials have warned that institution-wide sanctions could disrupt access to information technology and insurance services, complicate the recruitment of investigators and interfere with financial transactions, including payments to U.S. employees.
Reuters reported that the proposed sanctions could also make other organizations more cautious about doing business with or supporting the ICC because of potential exposure to the U.S. financial system.
Why Is Washington Targeting the ICC?
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The Trump administration has strongly opposed the ICC’s investigations and arrest warrants involving Israeli officials. The court issued arrest warrants in November 2024 for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant over alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza. Israel and the United States are not members of the ICC and reject the court’s jurisdiction in the cases.
Washington has also objected to an earlier ICC investigation into alleged crimes involving U.S. military personnel in Afghanistan.
The United States has never been a member of the ICC, which was established in 2002 to prosecute individuals accused of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity when national judicial systems are unable or unwilling to pursue such cases. The court currently has 125 member states.
Previous U.S. Measures
The Trump administration has already imposed sanctions on more than a dozen ICC judges and prosecutors. The U.S. Treasury’s OFAC also maintains an ICC-related sanctions programme and has issued licences allowing certain activities that would otherwise be restricted.
In July, Secretary of State Marco Rubio launched a campaign calling on countries to distance themselves from the ICC and withdraw their support for the court.
The latest proposed measures would therefore represent a shift from targeting individual ICC officials to potentially restricting transactions with the court itself. Reports indicate that the sanctions could be announced during or shortly after the United Nations General Assembly meetings in New York, although the exact timing and final scope had not been confirmed.
