Trump Administration Sanctions Four ICC Judges Over Netanyahu Warrant And U.S. War Crimes Probe

Trump Administration Sanctions Four ICC Judges

On Thursday, President Donald Trump’s government put sanctions on four judges from the International Criminal Court (ICC). This was because the ICC issued an arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and previously decided to look into possible war crimes by U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan.

The U.S. targeted four judges: Solomy Balungi Bossa from Uganda, Luz del Carmen Ibanez Carranza from Peru, Reine Adelaide Sophie Alapini Gansou from Benin, and Beti Hohler from Slovenia. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced this.

Rubio said the ICC’s actions against the U.S. and Israel, its close ally, are unfair and driven by politics. He believes the ICC is wrongly trying to investigate and punish people from the U.S. and its allies.

The ICC strongly disagreed, saying the sanctions are an attack on its freedom to work as a court that brings justice to people hurt by terrible crimes.

Judges Bossa and Ibanez Carranza, who started at the ICC in 2018, were part of a 2020 decision to allow an investigation into possible U.S. war crimes in Afghanistan. Since 2021, though, the ICC has focused more on crimes by the Afghan government and Taliban.

Last November, ICC judges, including Alapini Gansou and Hohler, approved arrest warrants for Netanyahu, former Israeli defense leader Yoav Gallant, and Hamas leader Ibrahim Al-Masri for possible war crimes in the Gaza conflict.

This shows the Trump administration’s ongoing issues with the ICC. Back in 2020, during Trump’s first term, the U.S. put sanctions on the ICC’s then-prosecutor Fatou Bensouda and one of her aides over the Afghanistan case.

In January, the U.S. House of Representatives voted to punish the ICC for targeting Netanyahu, showing strong support among Trump’s Republican allies for Israel.

TOUGH TIMES FOR THE ICC

Human rights groups were upset about the sanctions. Liz Evenson from Human Rights Watch said they attack the idea of fair laws, especially while Trump is criticized for weakening legal standards in the U.S.

These sanctions make life hard for the judges, as they can’t easily do things like use banks that work with the U.S. or deal in U.S. dollars. The U.S. Treasury gave a short time until July 8 to finish any current transactions with the judges, but payments must go to a blocked U.S. account.

The ICC is struggling, especially after earlier U.S. sanctions on its chief prosecutor, Karim Khan, who recently took a break due to a U.N. investigation into claims of sexual misconduct.

The ICC, created in 2002, handles major crimes like genocide and war crimes in countries that are members or when the U.N. Security Council asks it to. The U.S., China, Russia, and Israel are not members.

The ICC is investigating big cases, like the Israel-Hamas conflict, Russia’s war in Ukraine, and conflicts in Sudan, Myanmar, the Philippines, Venezuela, and Afghanistan. It issued arrest warrants for Russian President Vladimir Putin for actions in Ukraine and for Netanyahu for alleged crimes in Gaza. Both leaders say the ICC has no power over them since their countries aren’t members.

Highlights:

Trump administration sanctions four ICC judges.
Targets: Judges from Uganda, Peru, Benin, Slovenia.
Reason: ICC’s arrest warrant for Netanyahu and U.S. war crimes probe in Afghanistan.
U.S. claims ICC actions are unfair, politically driven.
ICC condemns sanctions as attack on its independence.
Sanctions complicate judges’ financial transactions.
ICC faces challenges, including prior U.S. sanctions on prosecutor.
ICC investigates major global conflicts; U.S., Israel not members.