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Hours after Indian-origin South African jurist and former International Criminal Court (ICC) judge Navanethem "Navi" Pillay was awarded the 2026 Nobel Peace Prize, the United States on Friday announced sanctions against the ICC, citing concerns over American sovereignty and the threat posed by the international judicial body.
In a fact sheet issued by the US Department of State, the Trump administration said it was taking additional measures against the ICC under an executive order titled "Imposing Sanctions on the International Criminal Court". "Under President Trump, the United States has acted decisively to defend U.S. sovereignty and U.S. citizens against the threat of the International Criminal Court (ICC)," the fact sheet stated. The department said the United States had already imposed sanctions on 17 individuals under the executive order and was now announcing further action against the court itself. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio also announced the move in a post on X, saying the action was intended to encourage American allies within the court to work towards addressing Washington's concerns. "Today, the Trump Administration is sanctioning the ICC. This action should encourage our Allies within the Court to work for solutions to end this threat to U.S. sovereignty forever," Rubio said. Under the sanctions, and subject to applicable licences and exceptions, all property and interests in property of the ICC located in the United States or held by US persons would be blocked and required to be reported to the US Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC). The measures also prohibit transactions by US persons, or transactions within or transiting the United States, involving the property or interests of designated or otherwise blocked persons, unless exempted or authorised under applicable licences. The US Treasury Department simultaneously issued several general licences authorising specified transactions involving the ICC to protect US interests. These include a 180-day licence covering certain activities necessary to maintain the court's operations, along with authorisations for certain information technology services, the ICC pension plan and activities related to detainees. The US announcement came on the same day that the Norwegian Nobel Committee awarded the 2026 Nobel Peace Prize to Pillay for her contributions to peace, international law and efforts to ensure accountability for serious international crimes. In its official announcement, the committee said Pillay had demonstrated exceptional courage and integrity in advancing a more comprehensive global legal order and had played a significant role in ensuring that war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide were prosecuted. "The Nobel Peace Prize for 2026 goes to a person who with exceptional courage and integrity has led the way towards a more comprehensive global legal order. This years laureate has been instrumental in ensuring that war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide are prosecuted," the committee stated. Pillay, a former United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, has served as a judge on South Africa's High Court, the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda and the International Criminal Court. She also chaired the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory until recently and is currently a judge at the International Court of Justice in the case in which Myanmar stands accused of genocide. Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu welcomed the US administration's decision to sanction the ICC, praising President Donald Trump and Secretary Rubio. "I commend President Donald Trump and Secretary Rubio for taking this critical decision to sanction the ICC. The ICC is not a court. It is a political body that poses a mortal threat to law-abiding democracies worldwide and to the very idea of national sovereignty. Thank you for your leadership," Netanyahu said in a statement issued by the Israeli Prime Minister's Office. (ANI)
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