Donald Trump Sanctions International Criminal Court for Targeting US and Close Ally Israel- wna24

Washington: US President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Thursday to impose sanctions on the International Criminal Court (ICC), expressing concerns over the ICC’s investigations into Israel, a key US ally. Both the US and Israel are not members of the ICC, which recently issued an arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu . The ICC has accused Netanyahu of alleged war crimes related to his military response in Gaza after the Hamas attack against Israel in October 2023. Tens of thousands of Palestinians, including children, were killed during the Israeli military’s response.

Trump’s executive order opposes the ICC for engaging in what he calls “illegitimate and baseless actions” targeting the US and Israel. The sanctions follow the ICC’s issuance of arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Israel’s former defense minister, Yoav Gallant. “The ICC has no jurisdiction over the United States or Israel,” the order states, adding that the court has set a “dangerous precedent” with its actions against both countries.

Trump’s action came as Netanyahu was visiting Washington. The two leaders held talks on Tuesday at the White House, and Netanyahu spent part of Thursday meeting with lawmakers on Capitol Hill.

The order states that the U.S. will impose “tangible and significant consequences” on those responsible for the ICC’s “transgressions.” Actions may include blocking property and assets and barring ICC officials, employees, and their families from entering the United States.

Human rights activists argue that sanctioning court officials would have a chilling effect and run counter to U.S. interests in other conflict zones where the court is investigating.

“Victims of human rights abuses around the world turn to the International Criminal Court when they have nowhere else to go, and President Trump’s executive order will make it harder for them to find justice,” said Charlie Hogle, staff attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union’s National Security Project. “The order also raises serious First Amendment concerns because it puts people in the United States at risk of harsh penalties for helping the court identify and investigate atrocities committed anywhere, by anyone.”

Hogle described the order as “an attack on both accountability and free speech.”

“You can disagree with the court and the way it operates, but this is beyond the pale,” said Sarah Yager, Washington director of Human Rights Watch, in an interview before the announcement.

Like Israel, the US is not among the court’s 124 members and has long harbored suspicions that a “Global Court” of unelected judges could arbitrarily prosecute U.S. officials. A 2002 law authorizes the Pentagon to liberate any American or U.S. ally held by the court. In 2020, Trump sanctioned chief prosecutor Karim Khan’s predecessor, Fatou Bensouda, over her decision to open an inquiry into war crimes committed by all sides, including the U.S., in Afghanistan.

Driving that shift was Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), who organized meetings in Washington, New York, and Europe between Khan and GOP lawmakers, many of whom have been among the court’s fiercest critics.

Now, Graham says he feels betrayed by Khan and is vowing to crush the court, as well as the economy of any country that tries to enforce the arrest warrant against Netanyahu.

“This is a rogue court. This is a kangaroo court,” Graham said in an interview in December. “There are places where the court makes perfect sense. Russia is a failed state. People fall out of windows. But I never in my wildest dreams imagined they would go after Israel, which has one of the most independent legal systems on the planet.”

“The legal theory they’re using against Israel has no limits, and we’re next,” he added.

Biden had called the warrants an abomination, and Trump’s national security adviser, Mike Waltz, has accused the court of having an antisemitic bias.

Any sanctions could cripple the court by making it harder for its investigators to travel and by compromising US-developed technology to safeguard evidence. The court suffered a major cyberattack last year, which left employees unable to access files for weeks.

Some European countries are pushing back. The Netherlands, in a statement late last year, called on other ICC members “to cooperate to mitigate the risks of these possible sanctions, so that the court can continue to carry out its work and fulfill its mandate.”

The US relationship with the ICC is complex. The United States participated in negotiations that led to the adoption of the Rome Statute, which established the court as a tribunal of last resort to prosecute the world’s worst atrocities — war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide, if individual governments fail to act.

The US voted against the Rome Statute in 1998. Then-President Bill Clinton signed the statute in 2000 but did not send the treaty to the US Senate for ratification.

When George W. Bush became president in 2001, he effectively canceled the US signature and led a campaign to pressure countries to enter bilateral agreements not to hand over Americans to the ICC.