US announces new sanctions on top ICC figures

What the report says

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has imposed new sanctions on International Criminal Court President Tomoko Akane of Japan and senior trial lawyer Abdoulaye Seye of Senegal, escalating the Trump administration’s campaign against the tribunal. BBC World News reported that the action follows a presidential order targeting the court and is part of a broader effort by Washington to pressure the ICC over its investigations and arrest warrants.

Rubio accused the two officials of helping pursue cases involving people whose governments had not accepted ICC jurisdiction. The measures include asset freezes, travel bans and limits on access to services from US-linked companies. The administration has already sanctioned at least 11 ICC officials, among them judges and the chief prosecutor, in response to ICC work touching on alleged war crimes in Afghanistan and Gaza, including warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Neither the White House nor President Donald Trump had commented at the time of the report.

The ICC, established in 2002 and backed by more than 120 member states, prosecutes genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes in certain cases. The move has drawn criticism from rights groups, which say the sanctions undermine international justice and restrict efforts to pursue accountability. Separately, some US human rights organizations and ICC judges have challenged earlier sanctions in court.