“US Sanctions ICC President Tomoko Akane, Senior Trial Lawyer Abdoulaye Seye” — Rubio Cites Probes Of Officials From Non-Member States

The United States has imposed sanctions on the President of the International Criminal Court, Tomoko Akane, and senior trial lawyer Abdoulaye Seye, in the latest escalation of the Trump administration’s campaign against the Hague-based tribunal.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced the measures on Tuesday, saying Akane, a Japanese judge who heads the ICC, and Seye, a Senegalese national, were sanctioned under an executive order signed by President Donald Trump last year authorising punitive measures against officials of the court.
“These individuals have directly engaged in efforts by the ICC to investigate, arrest, detain, or prosecute officials whose government has not consented to ICC jurisdiction,” Rubio said.
The sanctions freeze any assets the two officials may hold within the United States and effectively restrict their access to the US financial system, which is closely connected to most major international financial institutions.
The US Treasury Department also issued a general licence allowing transactions involving Akane to be wound down until September 17.
The latest measures follow earlier targeted sanctions imposed by Washington on several ICC judges and prosecutors.
The United States has cited, among other issues, the ICC’s arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant, as well as an earlier investigation into the conduct of US troops in Afghanistan.
Washington has never been a member of the ICC and has repeatedly challenged the court’s authority over nationals of countries that have not accepted its jurisdiction.
The ICC, established in 2002, prosecutes individuals accused of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity where its jurisdictional requirements are satisfied.
Under the Rome Statute, the court may exercise jurisdiction over crimes committed on the territory of member states even where the accused is a national of a country that is not itself a party to the treaty.
The Trump administration, however, has maintained that the court has overreached by attempting to investigate or prosecute officials of non-member states without the consent of their governments.
Three ICC judges filed a lawsuit against Trump and members of his administration in June, arguing that the sanctions imposed against them were unlawful.
Rubio had also said last month that Washington planned to intensify efforts against the court, including through a diplomatic campaign encouraging other countries to withdraw from the ICC.
He argued that the tribunal posed a potential threat to US personnel involved in President Trump’s immigration enforcement policies, military operations and strikes against vessels accused of drug trafficking, as well as other American service members.
Trump has said the administration’s actions are intended primarily to protect Netanyahu and others from what Washington considers improper prosecution, rather than to shield himself personally.
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