US sanctions more ICC judges, prosecutors for probes into alleged US, Israeli war crimes

WASHINGTON: The Trump administration is ramping up pressure on the International Criminal Court for pursuing investigations into US and Israeli officials for alleged war crimes. The State Department on Wednesday (Aug 20) announced new sanctions on four ICC officials, who it said had been instrumental in efforts to prosecute US and Israeli citizens.

The sanctions are just the latest in a series of steps the administration has taken against the Hague-based court, the world’s first international war crimes tribunal. The US has already imposed penalties on the ICC’s former chief prosecutor, Karim Khan, who stepped aside in May pending an investigation into alleged sexual misconduct, and four other tribunal judges.

In a statement, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said he had taken action against ICC judges Kimberly Prost of Canada and Nicolas Guillou of France and prosecutors Nazhat Shameem Khan of Fiji and Mame Mandiaye Niang of Senegal.

“These individuals are foreign persons who directly engaged in efforts by the International Criminal Court to investigate, arrest, detain, or prosecute nationals of the United States or Israel, without the consent of either nation,” Rubio said. He added that the administration would continue “to take whatever actions we deem necessary to protect our troops, our sovereignty, and our allies from the ICC’s illegitimate and baseless actions”.

In a separate statement, the State Department said Prost was hit for ruling to authorise an ICC investigation into US personnel in Afghanistan, which was later dropped. Guillou was sanctioned for ruling to authorise the ICC’s issuance of arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Minister of Defence Yoav Gallant related to Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza.

Khan and Niang were penalised for continuing Karim Khan’s investigation into Israel’s actions in Gaza, including upholding the ICC’s arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant, according to the statement.

Wednesday’s move carries on a history of Trump administration actions against the ICC, of which the US is not a member, dating back to his first term in office.

During Trump’s first term, the US hit the ICC with sanctions, but those were rescinded by President Joe Biden’s administration in early 2021.

As a result of the US sanctions, any assets the targets hold in US jurisdictions are frozen.