Rubio wants to weaken “rogue court” – USA imposes new sanctions against criminal court

The administration of US President Donald Trump has imposed sweeping new sanctions against the International Criminal Court (ICC). Following the announcement of the Nobel Peace Prize for former ICC judge Navi Pillay, the USA is tightening its sanctions against the International Criminal Court (ICC). US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Friday that the US would “ban all dealings with this rogue court, restricting its resources and significantly weakening its ability to act”. President Donald Trump “will never allow the court to prosecute Americans,” emphasized Rubio.

The US government accuses the court of being politicized and of wanting to wrongfully and unlawfully prosecute Americans and Israelis for alleged war crimes. Rubio sharply attacked the ICC in a video message. The USA and its citizens are not subject to its jurisdiction.

The announcement came on the same day that the Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to South African lawyer Navanethem Pillay. She had led investigations into possible ICC charges against US soldiers for alleged war crimes in Iraq and Afghanistan. However, the decision on sanctions had already been made long before the Nobel Prize was announced.

There had previously been sanctions against individual judges and prosecutors.