ICC condemns ‘flagrant attack’ on independence
The International Criminal Court (ICC) has described new US sanctions against judges and officials as “a flagrant attack” on its independence.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced sanctions yesterday (20 August) on ICC judges Kimberly Prost of Canada and Nicolas Guillou of France.
Deputy prosecutors Nazhat Shameem Khan (Fiji) and Mame Mandiaye Niang (Senegal) were also targeted.
The move follows the earlier designation of sanctions on four other judges and the ICC prosecutor by the US.
The ICC last year issued arrest warrants for Israel’s prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former defence minister, as well as Hamas leader Mohammed Diab Ibrahim Al-Masri, over the war in Gaza.
‘Affront’
In a statement, the ICC said that it was an impartial judicial institution that operated under a mandate from 125 states.
It said that the US move constituted “an affront against the court’s states parties, the rules-based international order and, above all, millions of innocent victims across the world”.
“The court stands firmly behind its personnel and victims of unimaginable atrocities,” it stated.
Call for support
“The ICC will continue fulfilling its mandate, undeterred, in strict accordance with its legal framework as adopted by the states parties and without regard to any restriction, pressure or threat,” the court added.
It called on states and others to provide “firm and consistent support” to the court and its work.
In , Rubio had described the court as “a national security threat that has been an instrument for lawfare against the United States and our close ally Israel”.