The U.S. is sanctioning the International Criminal Court. It came hours after Navi Pillay won the Peace Prize.
The United States imposed sanctions Friday on the International Criminal Court as an institution, hours after the Nobel Committee awarded the Peace Prize to Navi Pillay, a South African jurist who once sat on the court’s Appeals Chamber. The move sets Washington on a collision course with European allies.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced the measures and accused the court of abusing its authority. “Either the ICC will end its threats, or we will end the ICC,” he said. The sanctions require U.S. individuals and businesses to wind down certain dealings with the court over six months, with some exemptions. Rubio said they were structured to give the court and its member states a chance to address U.S. concerns, and that they would be adjusted if those demands are not met. A senior State Department official said the Treasury would issue licenses to protect American interests.
U.S. sanctions of this kind typically bar American companies from working with the target, forcing banks to close accounts, insurers to end coverage and software firms to halt cooperation, Reuters reported. Washington expects allies to rein in the court, it said.
ICC Deputy Prosecutor Nazhat Shameem Khan told Reuters the sanctions “must be condemned” and will not halt the court’s work. The court called the measures an attempt to obstruct justice and urged its member states to support it.
Pillay, 85, a former United Nations high commissioner for human rights, served on the ICC Appeals Chamber from 2003 to 2008. The Nobel committee said it wanted to remind the world that judges and institutions of international law are under political attack.
Washington has targeted the court before. The Trump administration sanctioned court officials during his first term, a step rescinded under President Joe Biden, and imposed new sanctions days after Trump returned to office in January 2025, later naming judges and prosecutors. ABC News noted Trump has made no secret of wanting the Peace Prize himself.
This report is based on information from Reuters, ABC News, Arab News, Just the News and UN News.