The United States has imposed sanctions on the president of the International Criminal Court (ICC) and one of its senior trial lawyers, escalating the Trump administration’s campaign against the Hague-based tribunal where former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte remains in custody.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced that Washington was sanctioning ICC President Tomoko Akane of Japan and senior trial lawyer Abdoulaye Seye of Senegal.

“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,” Rubio said.

The sanctions freeze any U.S. assets Akane and Seye may have and essentially cut them off from the U.S. financial system.

The ICC condemned the sanctions, saying the measures undermine the rule of law and that threatening judicial officials for applying the law puts the international legal order at risk.

Trump vs ICC

The latest sanctions mark another escalation in U.S. President Donald Trump’s longstanding opposition to the ICC.

Washington is not a party to the Rome Statute, the treaty that established the court, and the Trump administration has repeatedly challenged the ICC’s authority to prosecute nationals of countries that have not consented to its jurisdiction.

The ICC, however, maintains that it may exercise jurisdiction over alleged crimes committed on the territory of a state party even when the accused is a national of a non-member state.

The Trump administration has previously sanctioned ICC prosecutors and judges over cases involving the United States and Israel.

Those include the ICC’s past investigation into alleged crimes involving U.S. personnel in Afghanistan and arrest warrants issued against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant over alleged crimes in Gaza.

Seye is a senior trial lawyer on the prosecution team that sought an arrest warrant for Netanyahu.

Rubio has used unusually strong language against the tribunal, saying in July that there were “lunatics and crazies involved in the ICC” while discussing the possibility of the court pursuing U.S. political or military officials.

He maintained that no U.S. political or military official would be put on trial before the court.

Trump’s opposition to the ICC dates back to his first administration.

Speaking before the United Nations General Assembly in 2018, Trump said that, as far as the United States was concerned, the ICC had “no jurisdiction, no legitimacy, and no authority.”

Philippine connection

The escalating confrontation between Washington and the ICC carries particular significance for the Philippines as the court proceeds with the case against Duterte over alleged crimes committed during his anti-drug campaign.

Duterte has been in ICC custody in The Hague since March 2025 after Philippine authorities arrested him pursuant to an ICC warrant and surrendered him to the court on 12 March 2025.

The Philippines’ withdrawal from the Rome Statute took effect on 17 March 2019, but the ICC has ruled that it retains jurisdiction over alleged crimes committed while the country was still a state party.

The ICC confirmed charges against Duterte in April 2026 and committed his case to trial.

The former president faces charges of crimes against humanity stemming from alleged killings during his anti-drug campaign.

Duterte is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty before the court.