Key facts
- The U.S. has sanctioned Tomoko Akane, president of the International Criminal Court.
- The sanctions freeze any U.S. assets held by Akane and restrict her access to the U.S. financial system.
- The U.S. is not a member of the International Criminal Court.
- The sanctions are part of an ongoing campaign by the Trump administration against the ICC.
- The ICC has previously issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Israeli defense minister Yoav Gallant.
The United States has imposed sanctions on Tomoko Akane, the president of the International Criminal Court (ICC), according to the U.S. Treasury Department website. This action represents an escalation of the Trump administration's efforts against the international tribunal, which prosecutes war crimes, genocide, and crimes against humanity. The U.S. is not a member of the ICC.
Last year, the U.S. sanctioned several ICC officials, citing the court's arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Israeli defense minister Yoav Gallant, as well as a past probe into U.S. troops in Afghanistan. These sanctions freeze any U.S. assets held by the targeted individuals and effectively isolate them from the U.S. financial system.
In June, three ICC judges filed a lawsuit against Trump and his administration, challenging the legality of the sanctions. The Treasury Department also issued a general license on Tuesday, permitting the wind-down of transactions involving Akane until September 17.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio had previously stated the administration's intention to intensify efforts to undermine the ICC, including a diplomatic push for other countries to withdraw from the institution. Rubio argued that the court poses a threat to U.S. personnel involved in immigration enforcement and counter-drug operations, as well as other U.S. service members. Trump has indicated the campaign aims to defend Netanyahu and others from prosecution.
Reuters reported that the Trump administration's sanctions against ICC officials were partly intended to preempt future attempts to hold the Republican president or his staff accountable for overseas military actions. The ICC asserts jurisdiction only when a member state is unable or unwilling to prosecute atrocities, but it can also prosecute crimes committed on member state territory by nationals of non-member states.