US Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced that they decided to impose sanctions on the ICC after South African lawyer Navi Pillay, a former judge of the International Criminal Court (ICC), won the "2026 Nobel Peace Prize".
Rubio said on his social media account, "President Trump will never allow the International Criminal Court to try Americans. That's why today the USA is imposing sanctions on the International Criminal Court." he said.
Emphasizing that they are not members of the court and that they do not accept that this court has any authority over American citizens, Rubio stated that they decided to impose sanctions to prevent the ICC from taking such a step at any point.
"Either the ICC will end its threats or we will eliminate the ICC," Rubio said. he said.
The US Minister said, "If they do not do this, the US will continue to destroy the ICC step by step until Americans are no longer under threat." he said.
It is noteworthy that the US announced the sanction decision a few hours after Pillay, one of the former judges of the court and who recently led the preparation of a United Nations (UN) report that concluded that "Israel committed genocide in Gaza", won the Nobel Peace Prize.
The court issued an arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant due to the genocide in Gaza in November 2024, and the USA strongly objected to the decision and stated that it did not recognize it.
The Washington administration imposed sanctions on ICC judges and prosecutors, including court President Tomoko Akane, in August.
US President Donald Trump stated that Rubio's campaign against the Court was carried out to protect Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu, not himself.
REACTION FROM 8 COUNTRIES TO THE USA'S DECISION
The foreign ministers of the United Kingdom, Canada, Denmark, Germany, France, Italy, Japan and the Netherlands, which are parties to the Rome Statute, the founding agreement of the ICC, made a joint written statement regarding the US decision to impose sanctions on the ICC.
In the statement, it was underlined that these countries reaffirmed their ongoing and unwavering support for the independence, impartiality and integrity of the ICC and noted the following:
"As committed supporters of the ICC, we regret and strongly oppose the sanctions announced by the United States to be imposed on the court. We note with appreciation the work the court has undertaken to prepare for such measures so that it can continue to fulfill its mandate under the Rome Statute, and underline our unwavering support for ensuring that the court can do so."
CONDEMNATION FROM THE UN
United Nations (UN) Secretary-General Antonio Guterres condemned the US decision to impose ICC sanctions and said, "Today's decision deals a serious blow to joint efforts towards international criminal justice, in which the ICC plays a key role." he said.
