The Trump administration announced new sanctions targeting the president of the International Criminal Court and a senior prosecutor, escalating a diplomatic campaign against the Hague-based tribunal.
The measures designate ICC President Tomoko Akane of Japan and Senior Trial Lawyer Abdoulaye Seye of Senegal under Executive Order 14203, titled “Imposing Sanctions on the International Criminal Court.”
According to the administration’s announcement, the sanctions were levied because both officials directly took part in efforts to “investigate, arrest, detain, or prosecute officials whose government has not consented to ICC jurisdiction.”
The administration described the ICC as a “corrupt and fatally politicized supranational court that has maliciously abused its authority and exceeded its mandate,” adding that the United States “will not tolerate its assault on state sovereignty.”
The United States is not a signatory to the Rome Statute, the 1998 treaty that established the court. Washington has long maintained that the ICC lacks legal authority over citizens of non-member nations without their explicit consent or a referral from the United Nations Security Council.
The statement noted that the court’s actions set a “dangerous precedent for all nations” by attempting to claim authority over citizens from non-consenting states.
The sanctions are part of what officials characterized as a broader diplomatic effort launched last month. The administration stated that its “whole of government campaign to dismantle the threat posed by the ICC to national sovereignty will be sweeping,” while urging other governments to pull their funding and end participation in the institution.
The administration also indicated that further actions could follow, stating it “stands ready to take additional measures, if necessary, to systematically dismantle the ICC until it is incapable of threatening American sovereignty.”
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