Washington intensifies its campaign against the International Criminal Court, opening another front in the struggle over global justice and national sovereignty.
WASHINGTON | August 2026. The Trump administration has imposed sanctions on International Criminal Court President Tomoko Akane and senior judicial official Abdoulaye Seye. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio accused both officials of participating in proceedings against citizens of countries that have not accepted the court’s jurisdiction. The ICC responded that targeting judicial officials for enforcing international law undermines the rule of law itself. Euronews
Rubio described the ICC as politicized and accused it of exceeding the authority granted under the Rome Statute. Washington has repeatedly rejected the court’s jurisdiction over US and Israeli nationals because neither country is a party to the treaty. The confrontation intensified after the ICC issued an arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in November 2024 over allegations connected to the war in Gaza.
The new measures form part of a broader US strategy aimed at weakening the court’s operational capacity. Additional sanctions, visa revocations and travel restrictions against ICC personnel are reportedly among the options under consideration. Several judges had already been targeted by Washington before the latest announcement.
The dispute now extends beyond individual investigations and reaches the foundations of international criminal justice. The ICC argues that courts cannot operate independently when judges and officials face political or economic punishment for their decisions. When power seeks immunity from judgment, justice becomes an act of resistance.
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