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The US has sanctioned four International Criminal Court judges over their efforts to prosecute American and Israeli officials, in an escalation of the Trump administration’s feud with the ICC.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement on Thursday that the four sanctioned judges had “actively engaged in the ICC’s illegitimate and baseless actions targeting America or our close ally, Israel”.
“The ICC is politicised 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.”
US conservatives have been on a war footing with the court since it issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former defence minister Yoav Gallant in November 2024 over their conduct in the war against Hamas in Gaza.
It was the first time the court, based in The Hague, had pursued the leader of a western-backed state. The move provoked uproar in the US and Israel and strong condemnation from then US president Joe Biden.
The court said at the time there were “reasonable grounds” to believe that Netanyahu and Gallant bore criminal responsibility for the war crime of starvation as a method of warfare, and the crimes against humanity of murder, persecution and other inhumane acts.
Almost 57,000 people have died in the Gaza war, which broke out after Hamas launched an attack on Israel on October 7, 2023 that Israeli officials say killed 1,200 Israelis.
The ICC also issued an arrest warrant for the Hamas military commander Mohammed Deif, who was killed in an Israeli air strike in Gaza in July 2024. Deif had played a central role in the October 7 attack.
In a statement, the ICC said it deplored the US sanctions. “These measures are a clear attempt to undermine the independence of an international judicial institution which operates under the mandate from 125 States Parties from all corners of the globe,” it said.
“The ICC provides justice and hope to millions of victims of unimaginable atrocities, in strict adherence to the Rome Statute, and maintains the highest standards in protecting the rights of suspects and the victims.”
Established in 2002, the ICC is the first and only permanent international court with jurisdiction to prosecute individuals for genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and the crime of aggression.
The judges that Rubio targeted in the State department move are Solomy Balungi Bossa of Uganda, Luz del Carmen Ibáñez Carranza of Peru, Reine Adeélaïde Sophie Alapini Gansou of Benin and Beti Hohler of Slovenia.
The State department said that in 2020 Bossa and Ibáñez Carranza had authorised the international court’s investigation into alleged war crimes committed by US personnel in Afghanistan.
Alapani Gansou and Hohler authorised the ICC’s arrest warrants targeting Netanyahu.
President Donald Trump had earlier placed sanctions on the ICC’s chief prosecutor Karim Khan, in a move that coincided with Netanyahu’s visit to Washington in February.
During Trump’s first term, his government imposed sanctions on the then prosecutor Fatou Bensouda and one of her top aides over the court’s work on Afghanistan.
The sanctions imposed by Rubio on Thursday prohibit all transactions by US persons that involve the judges’ property or interests in property.
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