The Trump administration has imposed sanctions on the president of the International Criminal Court and one of its senior trial lawyers, the State Department announced Tuesday, escalating its campaign against the international tribunal.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the sanctions target ICC President Tomoko Akane, a Japanese judge, and Abdoulaye Seye, a Senegalese trial lawyer at the court. The action freezes any assets the individuals hold in U.S. jurisdictions or that touch the American financial system.
Rubio said the sanctions were imposed under authority of an executive order signed by President Donald Trump. "These individuals have directly engaged in efforts by the ICC to investigate, arrest, detain, or prosecute officials whose government has not consented to the jurisdiction of the ICC," Rubio said in a statement.
The Trump administration accuses the ICC of attempting to unfairly prosecute U.S. and Israeli soldiers for alleged crimes in Afghanistan, Iraq and Gaza. Rubio characterized the court as "a corrupt and fatally politicized supranational tribunal that has maliciously abused its authority and exceeded its mandate." The administration framed the sanctions as part of "our unwavering mission to protect Americans from this sham of a court."
The move drew swift criticism from Japan, where Akane is a national. Prime Minister Shigeru Takaichi characterized the U.S. action as "very unfortunate" on Tuesday morning but did not elaborate on Japan's planned response. The criticism signals Tokyo's disapproval of unilateral sanctions targeting a Japanese national leading a multilateral organization.
The ICC, established in 2002 and based in The Hague, Netherlands, was created by the international community to prosecute war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity. The United States is not a member of the court. Russia is the only other country to have sanctioned ICC President Akane, according to available reports.
The sanctions mark the latest escalation in the Trump administration's broader campaign against the international body, reflecting deepening tensions between the United States and international institutions.
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