Rubio announces sanctions on ICC officials amid campaign to dismantle the court

By Jennifer Hansler, CNN

(CNN) — US Secretary of State Marco Rubio targeted two International Criminal Court officials with new sanctions Tuesday amid his campaign to “dismantle” the court.

Rubio announced in a statement he is imposing sanctions on ICC President Tomoko Akane, who is Japanese, and senior trial lawyer Abdoulaye Seye, who is Senegalese.

“These individuals have directly engaged in efforts by the ICC to investigate, arrest, detain, or prosecute officials whose government has not consented to ICC jurisdiction,” he said.

The ICC denounced the new sanctions, saying that they “undermine the rule of law.”

“The Court remains undeterred and stands firmly behind its personnel and behind victims of unimaginable atrocities,” it said. “The Court will continue to fully discharge its mandate with independence and impartiality, in full accordance with the Rome Statute and in the interest of victims of international crimes.”

The Trump administration has imposed a slew of sanctions against ICC officials for their attempts to investigate the United States and Israel, neither of which are members of the court. President Donald Trump’s criticism of the ICC goes back to his first term, when his administration targeted the court for seeking to investigate alleged war crimes committed by US forces in Afghanistan.

In November 2024, the court issued arrest warrants for several officials including Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The court said it found “reasonable grounds” to believe that Netanyahu bears criminal responsibility for war crimes during Israeli military operations in Gaza including “starvation as a method of warfare” and “the crimes against humanity of murder, persecution, and other inhumane acts.”

Last month, Rubio announced a significant escalation of the administration’s efforts against the global court — a State Department-led, “whole-of-government campaign” to dismantle the ICC.

The US has asked other countries to join the pressure campaign and has threatened “increased scrutiny” against those that do not.

Rubio said Tuesday that he expects “more countries to join our campaign by ending their funding and participation in this politicized and unaccountable court.”

“The ICC’s ability to target American nationals and those of other non-States Parties must end,” he said, referencing countries that are not members of the court. “The Trump Administration stands ready to take additional measures, if necessary, to systematically dismantle the ICC until it is incapable of threatening American sovereignty.”

A US official said last month that countries “that partner with US law enforcement, host a US military presence, or benefit from the broader US security umbrella are being called upon to reject the ICC’s purported authority to prosecute American officials and servicemen.”

“We will watch with interest which nations join ranks with us against this threat to Americans who are willing to risk their lives to protect others,” they noted.

The US-backed interim government in Venezuela announced in late July it will pull out of the ICC. The foreign minister said that, under instruction from acting President Delcy Rodriguez, Venezuela had informed the United Nations of its “firm and irrevocable decision” to withdraw from the court. He argued in a post on X that the “Court’s actions reflect a demonstrated geographical bias” by focusing on African and Latin American countries.

The State Department praised the decision.

“The so-called court has been ‘investigating’ Nicolas Maduro since 2018 with no result. The ICC has instead wasted its resources on investigating and charging persons from countries that have competent, independent judicial systems and which never submitted to the jurisdiction of the court,” the department said in a media note at the time.

Chad also announced in late July its decision to withdraw from the ICC, after the launch of the US campaign.

The ICC’s Presidency of the Assembly of States Parties noted both decisions “with concern,” saying the withdrawals “risk undermining the collective pursuit of justice and weakening global efforts to end impunity.”

The story has been updated with additional reporting.

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