Trump administration imposes new sanctions on four ICC judges, prosecutors
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US sanctions more ICC judges, prosecutors for probes into alleged American, Israeli war crimes
The U.S. announces new sanctions on four ICC officials, including two judges and two prosecutors. The sanctions were immediately denounced by both the ICC and the United Nations. Israel welcomed the move announced by Secretary of State Marco Rubio. It is just the latest in a series of steps the Trump administration has taken against The Hague-based court, the world’s first international war crimes tribunal.. The U.N. is “very concerned” about the U.s. continuing to target the international court, he said. The move carries on a history of Trump administration actions against the ICC dating back to his first term in office. The ICC has the full support of the world body to carry out its work, a U.n. spokesman said Wednesday.“This is a firm measure against the mendacious smear campaign against the State of Israel and the IDF, and for truth and justice,” Netanyahu said.
The State Department on Wednesday announced new sanctions on four ICC officials, including two judges and two prosecutors, saying they had been instrumental in efforts to prosecute Americans and Israelis. As a result of the sanctions, any assets that the targets hold in U.S. jurisdictions are frozen.
The sanctions were immediately denounced by both the ICC and the United Nations, while Israel welcomed the move announced by Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
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It is just the latest in a series of steps the Trump administration has taken against The Hague-based court, the world’s first international war crimes tribunal. The U.S., which is not a member of the court, has already imposed penalties on the ICC’s former chief prosecutor, Karim Khan, who stepped aside in May pending an investigation into allegations of sexual misconduct, and four other tribunal judges.
The new penalties target ICC judges Kimberly Proust of Canada and Nicolas Guillou of France and prosecutors Nazhat Shameem Khan of Fiji and Mame Mandiaye Niang of Senegal.
“These individuals are foreign persons who directly engaged in efforts by the International Criminal Court to investigate, arrest, detain, or prosecute nationals of the United States or Israel, without the consent of either nation,” Rubio said.
He added that the administration would continue “to take whatever actions we deem necessary to protect our troops, our sovereignty, and our allies from the ICC’s illegitimate and baseless actions.”
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In a separate statement, the State Department said Prost was hit for a ruling to authorize an ICC investigation into U.S. personnel in Afghanistan, which was later dropped. Guillou was sanctioned for ruling to authorize the ICC’s issuance of arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant related to Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza.
Nazhat Shameem Khan and Niang were penalized for continuing Karim Khan’s investigation into Israel’s actions in Gaza, including upholding the ICC’s arrest warrants for Netanyahu and Gallant, according to the statement.
In response, the ICC issued a statement calling the sanctions “a flagrant attack against the independence of an impartial judicial institution” and “an affront against the Court’s states parties, the rules-based international order and, above all, millions of innocent victims across the world.”
U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said the ICC has the full support of the world body to carry out its work. The U.N. is “very concerned” about the U.S. continuing to target the international court, he said.
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“We firmly believe that the ICC is a key pillar of international criminal justice, and we respect their work,” Dujarric said. “The decision imposes severe impediments on the functioning of the office of the prosecutor in respect for all the situations that are currently before the court.”
Netanyahu welcomed the U.S. step.
“This is a firm measure against the mendacious smear campaign against the State of Israel and the IDF, and for truth and justice,” he said in a statement, using an acronym for the Israeli military.
Wednesday’s move carries on a history of Trump administration actions against the ICC dating back to his first term in office.
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During Trump’s first term, the U.S. hit the ICC with sanctions, but those were rescinded by President Joe Biden’s administration in early 2021.
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Associated Press writers Mike Corder in The Hague and Farnoush Amiri at the United Nations contributed to this report.
Matthew Lee, The Associated Press
Trump admin imposes sanctions on more International Criminal Court officials
The U.S. is imposing sanctions on four International Criminal Court officials. The officials are involved in work related to alleged Israeli and US war crimes. The sanctions were imposed under an executive order issued by President Donald Trump in February. The executive order was already used to sanction ICC chief prosecutor Karim Khan and four ICC judges. The ICC issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Gallant in November 2024 for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity.
The Trump administration escalated its fight against the International Criminal Court by imposing sanctions on four more court officials involved in work related to alleged Israeli and US war crimes.
In a statement Wednesday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the State Department was designating Kimberly Prost of Canada, Nicolas Guillou of France, Nazhat Shameem Khan of Fiji and Mame Mandiaye Niang of Senegal for their work in the ICC “to investigate, arrest, detain, or prosecute nationals of the United States or Israel, without the consent of either nation.”
The sanctions were imposed under an executive order issued by President Donald Trump in February that authorizes punitive measures like sanctions and possible entrance bans on ICC personnel because of its “illegitimate and baseless actions targeting America and our close ally Israel.” The executive order was already used to sanction ICC chief prosecutor Karim Khan and four ICC judges.
According to a State Department fact sheet, Prost, an ICC judge “is being designated for ruling to authorize the ICC’s investigation into U.S. personnel in Afghanistan.”
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Guillou, another judge, “is being designated for ruling to authorize the ICC’s issuance of arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant,” the fact sheet said.
“Deputy Prosecutors Shameem Khan and Niang are being designated for continuing to support illegitimate ICC actions against Israel, including upholding the ICC’s arrest warrants targeting Prime Minister Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Gallant since they assumed leadership for the ICC’s Office of the Prosecutor,” it said.
The ICC issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Gallant in November 2024 for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Trump also signed an executive order authorizing sanctions and visa restrictions for members of the court during his first term in 2020, months after the ICC authorized a probe into alleged war crimes committed in Afghanistan by US and Afghan forces as well as alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by the Taliban.
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