"Dismantling Campaign"... America imposes sanctions on the President of the International Criminal Court

On Tuesday, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced the imposition of sanctions against two officials of the International Criminal Court, as part of his campaign aimed, as he described it, at “dismantling” the court. Rubio revealed in a statement that the sanctions were targeting the head of the International Criminal Court, Tomoko Akane of Japan, and prominent Senegalese lawyer Abdoulaye Sy.

He added: "These two individuals participated directly in the International Criminal Court's efforts to investigate, arrest, detain or prosecute officials whose governments did not consent to the court's jurisdiction." Ofoq News Network contacted the International Criminal Court to comment on the new sanctions.

The Trump administration imposed a series of sanctions on International Criminal Court officials for attempting to investigate the United States and Israel, which are not members of the court. US President Donald Trump's criticism of the International Criminal Court dates back to his first term, when his administration targeted the court for trying to investigate alleged war crimes committed by US forces in Afghanistan.

In November 2024, the court issued arrest warrants against a number of officials, including Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The court said at the time that it found “reasonable grounds” to believe that Netanyahu bears criminal responsibility for war crimes committed during Israeli military operations in Gaza, including the use of “starvation as a method of war” and “crimes against humanity of murder, persecution and other inhumane acts.”

Last month, Rubio announced a major escalation of the US administration's efforts against the International Criminal Court, through a "comprehensive government campaign" led by the State Department to dismantle the court. The United States called on other countries to join the pressure campaign, and threatened to "tighten oversight" of countries that do not join.

Rubio said Tuesday that he expects “more countries to join our campaign to end their funding and participation in this politicized and unaccountable court.” He added: "The ICC's ability to target American citizens and citizens of non-member states must be put to an end."

He continued: "The Trump administration stands ready to take additional measures, if necessary, to systematically dismantle the International Criminal Court until it is no longer able to threaten American sovereignty." A US official said last month that countries “that cooperate with US law enforcement, host a US military presence, or benefit from the broader US security umbrella are called upon to reject the ICC’s purported authority to prosecute US officials and military personnel.”

He continued: "We will watch with interest which countries will join us in confronting this threat to Americans who are willing to risk their lives to protect others." In late July, the interim government in Venezuela, supported by the United States, announced its withdrawal from the International Criminal Court.

The US State Department praised the decision. The ministry said in a press statement at the time: “The so-called court has been conducting investigations into Nicolas Maduro since 2018 without any results.

“Consequently, it wasted its resources investigating and bringing charges against people from countries with competent and independent judicial systems that had never been subject to the court’s jurisdiction.” Chad also announced in late July its decision to withdraw from the International Criminal Court, following the start of the US campaign.

The Presidency of the Assembly of States Parties to the ICC expressed concern over both resolutions, saying the withdrawals “threaten to undermine the collective pursuit of justice and weaken global efforts to end impunity.”