The United States has imposed sanctions on the International Criminal Court (ICC) in response to its investigations targeting US citizens and allies. This move has sparked international debate about the ICC's role and jurisdiction.
The International Criminal Court ( ICC ) building stands in The Hague, Netherlands. US President Donald Trump signed an executive order to sanction the ICC for targeting the United States and its allies, such as Israel . This order allows for financial and visa sanctions against individuals and their families who assist ICC investigations of US citizens or US allies.
The move is a protest against the court's arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, coinciding with his visit to Washington. Established in 2002, the ICC prosecutes war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide, and the crime of aggression when member states are unwilling or unable to do so. It can prosecute crimes committed by nationals of member states or on the territory of member states by other actors. With 125 member states, the ICC's budget for 2025 is approximately €195 million (RM896 million). The court conducts investigations across a wide range of locations, from the Palestinian territories to Ukraine, African states like Uganda, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Kenya, extending to Venezuela in Latin America and Myanmar and the Philippines in Asia.According to the ICC's website, there have been 32 cases before the court, some involving multiple suspects. ICC judges have issued at least 60 arrest warrants. Of those, 11 convictions and four acquittals have been handed down. Twenty-one individuals have been held at the ICC detention center in The Hague and appeared before the court, while 31 remain at large. Charges have been dropped against seven people due to their deaths. Notably, only six of the 11 convictions are for the court's core crimes of war crimes and crimes against humanity; the remaining convictions pertain to crimes such as witness tampering. The six convicted individuals were all African militia leaders from the Democratic Republic of Congo, Mali, and Uganda.The ICC has issued an arrest warrant for Netanyahu, accusing him of criminal responsibility for acts including murder, persecution, and using starvation as a weapon of war in the Gaza conflict. Arrest warrants have also been issued for Netanyahu's former defense chief, Yoav Gallant, and Hamas leader Ibrahim al-Masri, also known as Mohammed Deif. The warrant for Masri lists charges of killing, rape, and hostage-taking during the October 7, 2023, attacks in Israel that triggered the Gaza war. Netanyahu dismissed the decision as anti-Semitic, claiming the accusations are absurd and false. Russian President Vladimir Putin is also on the list, accused of the war crime of illegally deporting hundreds of children from Ukraine. In March 2023, after the court issued the warrant, the Kremlin asserted that the move was meaningless. Moscow has repeatedly denied accusations that its forces have committed atrocities during its invasion of Ukraine.In recent months, the ICC prosecutor has also requested arrest warrants for senior Afghan and Myanmar leaders, although these have not been officially approved by judges. Despite being supported by many United Nations members and the European Union, other countries such as the United States, China, and Russia are not members, arguing that the ICC could be used for politically motivated prosecutions. Myanmar is not a member of the court, but in 2018 and 2019, judges ruled that the court had jurisdiction over alleged cross-border crimes that partially took place in neighboring ICC-member Bangladesh, such as deportation and persecution, and stated that prosecutors could launch a formal investigation. Israel is not a member of the court and does not recognize its jurisdiction. However, the Palestinian territories were admitted as an ICC member state in 2015. This, combined with a ruling by judges, allows the court to examine potential war crimes committed by Hamas fighters in Israel and by Israelis in the Gaza Strip.
INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT ICC UNITED STATES DONALD TRUMP ISRAEL BENJAMIN NETANYAHU ARREST WARRANT SANCTIONS WAR CRIMES HUMAN RIGHTS
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