Daijiworld Media Network - Washington
Washington, Sep 21: The Trump administration is preparing sweeping sanctions against the International Criminal Court (ICC) that could restrict most financial transactions with the Hague-based tribunal and potentially cut it off from a significant part of the global banking system, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing US officials and documents.
Under the proposed measures, most transactions involving the ICC would be prohibited after a six- to seven-month grace period. The restrictions could also prevent the court from conducting transactions in US dollars, according to the report. Communications-related services would be exempt.
The administration could finalise the measures as early as this week during the United Nations General Assembly in New York or shortly afterwards, the Journal reported. Reuters, however, said it could not immediately independently verify the report.
A State Department spokesperson declined to provide details of any planned sanctions but pointed to Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s position that the ICC poses a threat to US sovereignty. The reported measures would represent a broader step than the sanctions Washington has already imposed on individual ICC officials.
The United States has previously sanctioned several ICC officials, including former chief prosecutor Karim Khan, ICC President Tomoko Akane, judges and other prosecutors. The latest reported plan would instead target transactions involving the court as an institution, potentially affecting areas such as payments, information technology, insurance and investigative operations.
Washington's confrontation with the court intensified after the ICC issued arrest warrants in 2024 for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former defence minister Yoav Gallant over alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity linked to the Gaza conflict. Both Israel and the accused officials have rejected the allegations.
Rubio has previously said the Trump administration would pursue a broad campaign against the ICC and argued that the court had exceeded its authority by pursuing officials from countries that are not members of the tribunal, including the United States and Israel.
Neither the United States nor Israel is a member of the ICC. The court was established under the Rome Statute and is based in The Hague.
The administration's position has also drawn attention to Rubio's earlier stance on the ICC. As a US senator in 2022, Rubio co-sponsored a resolution supporting an ICC investigation into alleged war crimes in Ukraine attributed to Russia. Russia, like the United States, is not a member of the court. The ICC subsequently issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin.
European countries and other major supporters of the ICC, including Japan, have pledged to defend the court against US pressure. However, it remains unclear what measures they could take to shield the tribunal's operations from any new US sanctions.