US imposes sanctions on International Criminal Court, hours after former judge wins Nobel

The ICC's deputy prosecutor, Nazhat Shameem Khan, condemned the sanctions and said they would not halt the tribunal's work.

The Trump administration has long been hostile to the court founded in 2002 to prosecute war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide, and has previously imposed sanctions on its prosecutors and judges. Friday's move would go far further, by potentially punishing companies that provide services to the court itself.

"That is why, today, the United States is sanctioning the International Criminal Court. We will ban transactions with this rogue court, cutting off its resources and crippling its ability to operate."

"The sanctions are intended to undermine the rule of law internationally and the work that an independent judicial institution is doing," Khan said. "Our work will continue across all our situations, our investigations and our prosecutions."

The sanctions are "an attempt to obstruct the course of justice and to prevent the Court from doing what it was created to do. It is an assault on the rule of law and on the very foundations of the international legal order which strikes at the simple principle that no one stands above the law," the ICC said in a statement.

"The designation is aimed at disrupting the Court’s operations and at intimidating those who work for or cooperate with the Court. The Court, for its part, will not be deterred. ... Yet the Court cannot stand alone. Its fate now rests also in the hands of the States that created it," it continued.

Washington has denounced the ICC over arrest warrants issued for Israeli officials including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and a past investigation into actions of US soldiers in Afghanistan, which the ICC has since closed.

The court counts 125 countries as member states, including all EU countries and all members of the NATO alliance apart from the United States and Turkey. It has received strong public backing in the past from member countries including major US allies, and is based in the Netherlands, an EU and NATO member.

Navi Pillay, the South African jurist who won the Nobel Peace Prize earlier on Friday, had served as a judge on the ICC's Appeals Chamber from 2003-2008. The prize committee said in its citation that in naming her it had sought to "issue a reminder" at a time when "judges and institutions of international law are under political attack."

"An international legal system in which war criminals are held to account, and the victims of abuse see justice served is a precondition for a peaceful world," the prize committee said.

Rubio said the sanctions had been structured to give the court and its member states an opportunity to address US concerns.

Washington immediately allowed some exemptions. Shortly after the sanctions were announced, the US Treasury issued four general licenses, which would allow some transactions for ICC telecommunications, software and pension payments, and transactions linked to ICC detainees.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu commended Trump and Rubio for taking the "critical decision" to impose the sanctions in a post on X/Twitter on Friday.

"The ICC is not a court," he said. "It is a political body that poses a mortal threat to law-abiding democracies worldwide and to the very idea of national sovereignty. Thank you for your leadership."

US sanctions typically bar all US-based companies from any work with a sanctioned organization, forcing banks to shut accounts, insurers to end coverage and software companies to halt cooperation.

The Trump administration previously imposed targeted sanctions on court officials during his first term, which were rescinded under President Joe Biden. Washington announced new sanctions just days after Trump returned to office in January 2025.

Court officials have been preparing for months for the prospect of sanctions on the court itself, shifting office computers from Microsoft software to open-source equivalents and making new arrangements for banking and health insurance.

The court's registrar Osvaldo Zavala Giler called earlier this week for the EU to be prepared to use a so-called "blocking mechanism" that lets it shield European countries from the extraterritorial effects of sanctions.

In his statement, Rubio said the United States had delayed its sanctions, hoping that the ICC and the countries party to its founding Rome Statute would address US concerns, but they had failed to do so.

"Either the ICC will end its threats, or we will end the ICC. We expect our allies, many of whom are part of the ICC and who rely on American service members for their defense, to rein in the court," Rubio said.

"We have structured this action to provide an opportunity for States Parties to negotiate and present a solution to address our concerns. If these efforts do not bear fruit, we will continue to adjust accordingly," Rubio said.

UN human rights chief Volker Turk on Friday called for immediate measures to protect the International Criminal Court (ICC) after the United States imposed "unacceptable" sanctions upon it.

"These sanctions – the latest in a series of retaliatory steps against the ICC and its personnel for the work they do every day to advance accountability for the very worst violations of human rights – are unacceptable," Turk said.

EU countries, including the host country, the Netherlands, will take measures to keep the International Criminal Court functioning after the United States impose sanctions on it, Dutch Prime Minister Rob Jetten and EU Council President Antonio Costa said at a joint press conference on Friday.

Jetten said it was "crucial" that there is still time to continue talks with the US during the six-month period before the sanctions take effect.

UN SECRETARY-GENERAL ANTONIO GUTERRES:

"The Secretary-General condemns the announcement of the imposition by the United States of sanctions against the International Criminal Court as an institution," according to a statement read by UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric during a press briefing. "Today's decision marks a serious blow to our collective pursuit of international criminal justice, of which the ICC is a key pillar," he added.

Executive Director of Human Rights Watch Philippe Bolopion also responded to the sanctions, saying, "The Trump administration has made clear its aim to destroy the ICC to shield US and Israeli officials from facing charges before the court. The ICC was created to ensure that no one, no matter how powerful, is above the law."

"Governments that value human rights and accountability should condemn this outrageous move and take swift action to protect the ICC, its staff, and all those who cooperate with it, starting with the European Union using its laws to mitigate the sanctions’ impact in the region."

"Historically, hardly any country has done more for international criminal law than the USA. For it was the United States that, after the Second World War, championed the cause of bringing the principal perpetrators of the Nazi regime to trial in Nuremberg – and thereby laid the foundations for international criminal law. It is utterly staggering that the US, of all countries, is now setting out to destroy this idea once and for all."