ICC Condemns US Sanctions

The International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague has strongly condemned US sanctions targeting its president, Tomoko Akane, and senior Senegalese jurist Abdoulaye Seye, one of the lead prosecutors in the investigation into Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, according to the DPA news agency.

The court described the measures as a “flagrant attack” on the independence of an impartial judicial institution, saying they undermine the rule of law and jeopardize the international legal order.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the sanctions were justified because Akane and Seye had been involved in ICC efforts to investigate or arrest officials whose governments did not recognize the court. In addition to the US, neither Israel nor Russia recognizes ICC jurisdiction. The sanctions include freezing bank assets in the US and excluding those targeted from international financial services provided by US banks.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President António Costa expressed their firm support for the ICC, stressing that its judges and officials must be able to act independently and without external pressure. German Justice Minister Stefanie Hubig described the sanctions as a frontal attack on international criminal law, recalling the role the US played in establishing the concept through the Nuremberg trials.

(max)