The US imposed sanctions on Wednesday against four International Criminal Court (ICC) officials on the basis that any attempt to “investigate, arrest, detain or prosecute” American or Israeli officials constitutes a threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States.
Two judges and two deputy prosecutors at the international court have been targeted by the US for sanctions.
Middle East Eye revealed last week that the two deputy prosecutors sanctioned today, Nazhat Shameem Khan and Mame Mandiaye Niang, had prepared arrest warrants for Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich on apartheid charges.
However, the prosecutors had not yet filed the applications for the warrants despite them being complete, due to the threat of US sanctions.
The US also issued sanctions against two ICC judges, Kimberly Prost and Nicolas Guillou. Gillou authorised the ICC’s issuance of arrest warrants against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Minister of Defence Yoav Gallant, while Prost authorised the ICC’s investigation into US personnel in Afghanistan.
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The ICC on Wednesday condemned the decision taken by President Donald Trump’s administration.
“These sanctions are a flagrant attack against the independence of an impartial judicial institution which operates under the mandate from 125 states parties from all regions,” the ICC said in a statement.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced the sanctions against the officials, saying all four are engaged in the ICC’s efforts to investigate, arrest, detain or prosecute nationals of the US or Israel, without the consent of either nation.
He accused the ICC of being “a national security threat” in a statement and said he was taking measures to protect the US.
“The US has been clear and steadfast in our opposition to the ICC’s politicisation, abuse of power, disregard for our national sovereignty and illegitimate judicial overreach,” Rubio said.
“The Court is a national security threat that has been an instrument for lawfare against the US and our close ally Israel.”
Rubio added it was a policy of the US government to take any necessary actions to protect American troops, US sovereignty and their allies from the ICC’s “illegitimate and baseless actions”.
Rubio then urged countries which support the ICC to resist the claims of what he called a “bankrupt institution”, claiming that many of these countries’ freedom was acquired through “great American sacrifices”.
The State Department Press Office told MEE that the US and Israel are not party to the Rome Statute and have not consented to the ICC’s authority.
It added that the ICC had been abused as “a tool of political and legal warfare” against American soldiers and US national interests, including targeting Israel with “baseless and illegitimate” arrest warrants.
The State Department also said that since assuming leadership for the Office of the Prosecutor in May, Shameem Khan and Niang have “continued to support the ICC’s lawfare against Israel, including asserting ICC jurisdiction over Israel, and have upheld the ICC’s arrest warrants targeting Israeli personnel”.
The State Department further said it does not “preview deliberative sanctions actions”, but as long as the ICC continues to present a threat to Americans and allies that have not consented to ICC jurisdiction, “all options are on the table”.
In its reaction to the decision, the ICC said that US sanctions are an “affront” against the rules-based international order and “millions of innocent victims across the world”.
“The ICC will continue fulfilling mandates in strict accordance with its legal framework, without regard to any pressure or threat.”
Fears over sanctions
The international justice director at Human Rights Watch, Liz Evenson, told MEE the sanctions showed “complete disregard for victims of serious crimes” and called on the EU to use its blocking statute to protect the organisation.
“The Trump administration, by sanctioning the ICC deputy prosecutors and two additional judges, is again showing complete disregard for victims of serious crimes across the globe in a misguided effort to shield US and Israeli officials from justice,” she said.
Deputy prosecutors at the ICC have the power to submit arrest warrant applications to pre-trial judges for examination
If the arrest warrants are filed, it would be the first time that the crime of apartheid will have been charged at an international court.
The sanctions are the latest attack on the ICC. Since President Donald Trump’s executive order was issued in February, the US has now sanctioned nine individuals at the ICC.
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The US administration sanctioned ICC Chief Prosecutor Karim Khan in February, and he went on leave in May amid a UN investigation into sexual misconduct allegations against him, which he has denied.
A major Middle East Eye investigation in early August uncovered extraordinary details of an intensifying intimidation campaign targeting Khan over his investigation into alleged Israeli war crimes.
The campaign has involved threats and warnings directed at Karim Khan by prominent figures, close colleagues and family friends, as well as fears for the prosecutor’s safety prompted by a Mossad team in The Hague and media leaks about sexual assault allegations.
The campaigns took place against the backdrop of Khan’s efforts to build and pursue a case against Netanyahu and other Israeli officials over their conduct of the war against Hamas in Gaza and accelerating Israeli settlement expansion and violence against Palestinians in the illegally occupied West Bank.
Khan had prepared cases against Ben Gvir and Smotrich before he went on leave in May, numerous sources in the court with knowledge of the matter told MEE previously.
In June, the US sanctioned four ICC judges over arrest warrants targeting Netanyahu and Gallant. Two of those judges approved Khan’s application for arrest warrants for Netanyahu, Yoav Gallant, and three Hamas leaders last November.
“ICC member countries should strongly condemn these blatant attacks on the rule of law and take all necessary steps to ensure the court can continue its critical work for justice. For the EU, this means using its blocking statute, which aims to shield European companies from the effects of extraterritorial sanctions,” Evenson from HRW said.
