Key facts
- Three International Criminal Court (ICC) judges have filed a lawsuit in New York against the Trump administration.
- The judges allege that sanctions imposed by the US have led to frozen bank accounts, loss of health insurance, and restricted access to financial services.
- The sanctions were imposed under Executive Order 14203, signed by President Donald Trump in February 2025.
- Judges Kimberly Prost, Solomy Balungi Bossa, and Reine Alapini-Gansou are seeking to have the sanctions struck down.
- Prost and Bossa were sanctioned for their involvement in a ruling that authorized an investigation into alleged crimes in Afghanistan by US personnel.
- Alapini-Gansou was sanctioned for her role in issuing arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former defense minister Yoav Gallant.
Three International Criminal Court (ICC) judges have filed a lawsuit in a New York federal court against the Trump administration, seeking to overturn sanctions imposed on them. The judges, Kimberly Prost of Canada, Solomy Balungi Bossa of Uganda, and Reine Alapini-Gansou of Benin, allege that the sanctions, enacted via Executive Order 14203 in February 2025, have severely impacted their lives.
The complaint details how the sanctions have led to frozen bank accounts, canceled credit cards, loss of health insurance, and restrictions on movement and daily transactions. For Judge Prost, her HSBC bank account in Manhattan has been frozen, impacting her ability to use credit cards and conduct basic transfers. She has also lost access to services like Amazon and Google, and her health insurance provider has refused to pay medical claims.
Judge Bossa has also had her UN Federal Credit Union account in New York frozen, limiting her ability to use credit cards, purchase US dollars, and pay bills. Like Prost, she faces difficulties booking international transport and accommodation and has been cut off from US-based technology services.
Judge Alapini-Gansou, though not holding US bank accounts, has experienced impacts on her French bank account and credit card. She also faces challenges transacting in US dollars and booking travel. Her security has been a concern, leading to restrictions on her movement and reduced visits to her home country of Benin.
Prost and Bossa were sanctioned for their participation in a March 2020 Appeals Chamber ruling that authorized an investigation into alleged crimes in Afghanistan, including by US personnel. Alapini-Gansou was sanctioned for her role in Pre-Trial Chamber I, which issued arrest warrants in November 2024 for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former defense minister Yoav Gallant for alleged war crimes in Gaza.
James Goldston, executive director of the Open Society Justice Initiative, described the sanctions as an "unprecedented attack on judicial independence," aimed at influencing judges' decisions based on personal well-being rather than facts and law. The judges themselves have called the measures "tantamount to a financial death penalty."