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The International Criminal Court (ICC) has warned that the United States’ sanctions “undermine the rule of law” after Washington targeted its president.
“When judicial actors are threatened for applying the law, it is the international legal order itself that is placed at risk,” the ICC said in a statement.
The United States sanctioned ICC President Tomoko Akane of Japan on Tuesday as part of the Trump administration’s campaign against the court, which Washington accuses of being “politicised.”
The US also sanctioned Abdoulaye Seye, a senior trial lawyer at the Hague-based court.
The ICC criticised the measures, saying they targeted officials carrying out duties entrusted to the court by its member states.
“Measures targeting judges, prosecutors and staff who work towards the fulfilment of the mandate that was conferred to the ICC by States undermine the rule of law,” the court said.
The ICC said it remained “undeterred” by the sanctions and would continue its work.
It added that it “stands firmly behind its personnel and behind victims of unimaginable atrocities.”
The United States is not a member of the treaty that established the ICC but has previously imposed sanctions on several of its officials.
The sanctions restrict the targeted individuals from entering the US and prevent them from accessing transactions within the American financial system.
Washington’s actions have largely been linked to the ICC’s investigations involving Israel, a close US ally.
In 2024, the court issued an arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity linked to Israel’s war in Gaza.
