US Sanctions International Criminal Court Judges
Teh Donald Trump administration imposed sanctions on thursday against four judges of the International Criminal Court (ICC) in an unprecedented retaliatory move. The action follows the courtS investigations into alleged war crimes by U.S. forces in afghanistan and its arrest warrant for Benjamin Netanyahu, Prime Minister of the Zionist regime, according to a report by webangah News Agency.
U.S.Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced sanctions against four ICC judges: Solomy Balungi Bossa of Uganda, Luz del Carmen Ibáñez Carranza of Peru, Reine Alapini-Gansou of Benin, and Betty Holer of Slovenia.
“These individuals have actively participated in the ICC’s illegitimate and baseless actions against the United States or our close ally Israel,” Rubio stated. “The ICC has become a politicized body that falsely claims unlimited authority to investigate, charge, and prosecute American citizens and our allies.”
The ICC condemned the U.S. move as an attempt to undermine the independence of an international judicial institution that provides hope and justice to millions affected by unimaginable crimes.
Judges Bossa and Carranza have served at the ICC since 2018. In 2020, they were part of an appeals chamber that authorized prosecutors to examine alleged U.S.war crimes in Afghanistan.
The other two sanctioned judges-Gansou and Holer-issued arrest warrants in November 2023 for Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant, Defense Minister of the Zionist regime, over alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity during the Gaza conflict.
The latest sanctions escalate tensions between Washington and The Hague under trump’s presidency. In 2020, his administration also sanctioned former ICC Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda over her Afghanistan investigation.
The U.S. measures severely restrict financial transactions for those targeted as banks with American ties must comply with these restrictions globally-prompting widespread condemnation amid concerns about weakening autonomous international institutions.
