European states, Canada, Japan and the UN support the ICC against US sanctions | ICC News

The United States has imposed a new round of sanctions against the International Criminal Court (ICC), prompting several countries – including US allies – to condemn the move and reiterate their support for the global war crimes tribunal.

On Friday, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced that Washington would ban transactions with the “rogue court, cutting off its resources and crippling its ability to operate”, adding that President Donald Trump would “never allow” The Hague to prosecute Americans.

The ICC was established in 2002 to prosecute individuals accused of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity when national authorities are unable or unwilling to do so.

The U.S. Treasury Department announced sanctions with an initial six-month grace period and other exemptions that would allow certain transactions involving telecommunications, software, pension payments and inmate-related transactions.

Rubio said the sanctions would give the court and its member states an opportunity to respond to U.S. concerns and would be adjusted if they failed to respond to those requests.

The Trump administration says the court has exceeded its authority by prosecuting officials from countries that are not members of the ICC, such as Israel. The United States and Israel never joined the court.

In response to the sanctions, the ICC said the move constituted an “undermining of the rule of law and the very foundations of the international legal order.” He called on his 125 member states to defend the institution.

“The Court cannot stand alone. Its fate now also rests in the hands of the States that created it,” the ICC said in a statement. “It is not just a question of defending a single institution, but of safeguarding the international order based on the rule of law. History will judge this moment.”

The Trump administration sanctioned more than a dozen judges and prosecutors before imposing sanctions on the court itself on Friday.

Allies “regret and disagree” with US decision

Shortly after the US announcement, senior United Nations officials condemned the move.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said he was “deeply alarmed” by the expected impact of the sanctions on the Court as a whole, particularly on its ability to fulfill its mandate, his spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric said in a statement.

“Today’s decision is a significant blow to our collective quest for international criminal justice, of which the ICC is a key pillar,” the statement added.

UN human rights chief Volker Turk called for immediate measures to protect the ICC. “These sanctions – the latest in a series of retaliatory measures against the ICC and its staff for the work they do every day to advance accountability for the worst human rights violations – are unacceptable,” he said.

ICC member states that are allied with the United States have also expressed dismay at the decision.

Dutch Foreign Minister Tom Berendsen, whose country hosts the ICC, said the US decision was “deeply regrettable”.

“We will strongly defend the Court. At the same time, it is important to note that the sanctions will not come into force immediately and that service providers can continue to work for the ICC. The six-month period before the sanctions come into force creates space for dialogue,” he said.

In a joint statement, the foreign ministers of the United Kingdom, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Canada and Japan said they “regretted and strongly disagreed” with the sanctions.

“If implemented, these sanctions will have a significant impact on the work of the Court, its dedicated staff and their families… We remain both united in our support for the ICC and committed to engaging in constructive and inclusive dialogue with non-States Parties,” they said.

Belgian Foreign Minister Maxime Prévot also said Brussels would discuss support for the ICC with its European Union foreign affairs colleagues on Monday and at the next European Council.

“We will insist on concrete protection. The independence of the Court cannot depend on the people it investigates. Europe must act. Belgium calls for the activation of the EU blocking status to protect the Court,” Prévot said.

The United States wants to “ultimately destroy” the ICC

Similarly, rights organizations and groups have sounded the alarm about the implications of the US decision.

Philippe Bolopion, executive director of U.S.-based Human Rights Watch, said the Trump administration has made clear its goal of “destroying” the ICC and “protecting U.S. and Israeli officials from charges before the court.”

“The ICC was created to ensure that no one, no matter how powerful, is above the law. Governments that value human rights and accountability should condemn this outrageous decision and take swift action to protect the ICC, its staff and all those who cooperate with it, starting with the European Union using its laws to mitigate the impact of sanctions in the region,” he said.

Open Society Justice Initiative executive director James Goldston said the sanctions were a “calculated attack on the rule of law and the principles of judicial independence and equality that underpin it.”

“This is the latest step in a campaign of coercion intended to destroy the international justice system,” he said.

Amnesty International called on countries to “resist”. Trump’s “sanctions are designed to isolate and ultimately destroy the International Criminal Court,” Erika Guevara Rosas, Amnesty’s senior director of research, policy, advocacy and campaigns, said in a statement. “This existential attack must fail. States must take concrete steps to resist the imposition of these measures.”

Amid widespread criticism, Israel welcomed the US decision.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu welcomed the sanctions and congratulated Trump and Rubio for making this “critical decision.”

“The ICC is not a court. It is a political body that poses a deadly threat to law-abiding democracies around the world and to the very idea of ​​national sovereignty,” Netanyahu wrote on X.

In 2024, the ICC issued an arrest warrant for Netanyahu for war crimes and crimes against humanity in connection with the war on Gaza.