The ICC has expressed concern over the Trump administration’s campaign to encourage countries to withdraw from the court, asserting that such countries risked undermining the collective pursuit of justice.
By Al Jazeera Staff and AFP
The International Criminal Court (ICC) has lashed out at the United States after the Trump administration added its chief and one of its senior lawyers to a list of sanctioned individuals, calling the move a “flagrant attack” on the court’s independence.
The ICC’s reaction on Wednesday came in response to the US imposing sanctions on ICC President Tomoko Akane and senior trial lawyer Abdoulaye Seye, as part of its campaign against what it calls a “corrupt and fatally politicised body”.
Akane, a Japanese judge, has served as the ICC’s president since her election in March 2024. Seye is a Senegalese lawyer at the court.
“These sanctions are a flagrant attack against the independence of an impartial judicial institution,” The Hague-based court said in a statement.
“Such measures targeting judges, prosecutors and staff … undermine the rule of law.”
Washington’s latest move follows sanctions it imposed on several ICC officials, largely in response to the court’s investigations involving US ally Israel.
