U.S. aims lethal blow vs ICC
The United States government is determined to follow up on President Donald Trump’s recent global call for all nations that are part of the International Criminal Court (ICC) to quit the body, which he described as spinning “out of control.”
“The United States is equally opposed to the out-of-control institution known as the International Criminal Court,” he said at the United Nations.
“I call on all nations that are members of the ICC to officially resign from this rogue institution immediately,” he added.
According to a Times of Israel report, the Trump administration is lining up measures and sanctions against the ICC itself, not only its officials.
The publication quoted Washington sources as saying the unprecedented move against the ICC could be finalized this week.
At present, the ICC is trying former Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte on crimes against humanity charges. It also has issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Two sources were referenced in the story that indicated the Trump administration’s aim to step up its attack on the global tribunal that prosecutes war crimes and genocide.
The Trump administration has made no secret of its disdain for the court and has worked to undermine it.
US officials want the court to drop its arrest warrants against Israeli leaders as well its probe into American troops in Afghanistan. Previous US sanctions targeted individual court officials rather than the ICC as a whole.
Court execs hit first
In July, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said a campaign had been launched to isolate the court, starting with the Trump administration’s sanctions on the ICC president and one of its top prosecutors, and calling on other countries to withdraw from the tribunal.
The sanctions against ICC president Tomoko Akane, a Japanese national, and ICC senior trial lawyer Abdoulaye Seye, a Senegalese, included freezing any assets they may have in US jurisdictions or that come into contact with the US financial system.
“The Trump administration has been clear: the International Criminal Court is a corrupt and fatally politicized supranational court that has maliciously abused its authority and exceeded its mandate,” Rubio said at the time.
“We will not tolerate its assault on state sovereignty,” he added.
Netanyahu hits back
In response to Rubio’s announcement, Netanyahu wrote on X, “The ICC has become a kangaroo court that cloaks its abuse of power in the language of international law while undermining the very principles of justice.”
He hailed Rubio’s “determined efforts against the ICC’s illegitimate overreach, and for making clear that the corrupt officials who lead the ICC will face consequences.”
ICC Deputy Prosecutor Mame Mandiaye Niang said earlier this month that he hoped Netanyahu and Putin would end up in the dock.
Niang took over the ICC’s Office of the Prosecutor after his predecessor Karim Khan was dismissed over sexual abuse allegations.
The Wall Street Journal cited US officials who said the move against the ICC could be finalized as soon as this week during the United Nations General Assembly.
Any entity-wide sanctions imposed by the US Treasury would prohibit US citizens and companies from providing funds, goods, and services to the court without a license from the US Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC).
Banks often over-comply with such US sanctions because they depend on access to the American financial system.
Sanctions against the entire organization could affect the court’s operations, including its purchase of IT services and insurance, hiring investigators, and conducting everyday financial transactions such as paying dozens of its American employees, the ICC’s president and registrar have warned.
The United States is not an ICC member and has never ratified the Rome Statute that established the court. Israel, Russia, China and the Philippines are also not members.
No plan to return
Malacañang, meanwhile, said President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. remains firm that it is not time for the Philippines to rejoin the ICC.
Palace Press Officer Undersecretary Claire Castro made the statement when asked about US President Trump’s call for ICC member states to withdraw from the tribunal.
“We respect the US call, but for now the President’s stance remains the same. Whatever he said before regarding rejoining the ICC remains his position to this day. It is not yet time for the Philippines to rejoin the ICC,” Castro said.
The Palace also said Trump’s call would not affect the ongoing ICC proceedings against former president Duterte.
“As far as we are concerned, we see that the hearing of former president Duterte’s case is progressing. The complainants, lawyers, prosecutors, and even the defense are respecting the ongoing hearings and proceedings in the case he is facing. It has no effect,” Castro said.
The Philippines withdrew from the ICC in 2019, but the tribunal maintains it had jurisdiction over alleged crimes committed in the country while it was still a member. It was Duterte who pulled the country out of the ICC.