MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

US sanctions International Criminal Court judges over Israel probe

The US will take whatever actions we deem necessary to protect our sovereignty, that of Israel, and any other US ally, Rubio warned

Four International Criminal Court (ICC) judges (Solomy Balungi Bossa of Uganda, Luz del Carmen Ibáñez Carranza of Peru, Reine Adelaide Sophie Alapini Gansou of Benin, and Beti Hohler of Slovenia) were slapped with sanctions Thursday by the US Government of President Donald Trump, Secretary of Sttate Marco Rubio announced.

“The ICC is politicized and falsely claims unfettered discretion to investigate, charge, and prosecute nationals of the United States and our allies,” Rubio said. “This dangerous assertion and abuse of power infringes upon the sovereignty and national security of the United States and our allies, including Israel.”

The magistrates were targeted for their involvement in an ICC investigation into alleged war crimes by Israel in Gaza and the West Bank. Washington froze any US-based assets of these judges, citing their actions as infringing on US and Israeli sovereignty. The United States, which is not an ICC member, previously sanctioned ICC prosecutor Karim Khan in February for similar reasons.

These “individuals participated in the ICC's efforts to investigate, arrest, detain, arrest, or prosecute citizens of the United States or Israel, without the consent of the latter,” the State Department said. “The US will take all measures it deems necessary to protect its sovereignty, Israel's sovereignty, and that of any other US ally from illegitimate ICC actions,” it added.

The ICC condemned the sanctions as an attack on its independence. “These measures are a clear attempt to undermine the independence of an international judicial institution,” ICC Spokesperson Fadi El Abdallah said in a statement.

These measures follow Trump’s earlier sanctions on the ICC during his first term (2017-2021), but were later rescinded by the Biden administration. Critics, including Human Rights Watch (HRW), argue the sanctions undermine efforts to seek justice for serious crimes.

The United States, China, Russia, and Israel, among other countries, are not signatories of the Rome Statute creating the ICC and, therefore, do not recognize its jurisdiction.