The United States has imposed sanctions on International Criminal Court President Tomoko Akane of Japan, marking the latest escalation in the Trump administration’s sustained campaign against the Hague-based tribunal it accuses of operating as a “corrupt and fatally politicized” institution. The measures, announced Tuesday, also target ICC Senior Trial Lawyer Abdoulaye Seye of Senegal, extending Washington’s sanctions list against the court’s senior personnel.
US Sanctions on ICC Officials Reflect a Deepening Institutional Conflict With Global Implications
The Trump administration’s decision to sanction ICC President Tomoko Akane represents the most senior-level action Washington has taken against the court to date, deepening a rift between the United States and the 124-member body established under the 2002 Rome Statute. The ICC, which prosecutes individuals accused of the gravest international crimes — including war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide — functions as a court of last resort when national judicial systems are deemed inadequate to ensure accountability.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio justified the sanctions in a formal statement, asserting that the targeted individuals “have directly engaged in efforts by the ICC to investigate, arrest, detain, or prosecute officials whose government has not consented to ICC jurisdiction.” The sanctions bar the affected individuals from entering the United States and from conducting transactions within the US financial system.
The United States signed the Rome Statute but never ratified it, meaning it is not a member of the court and does not recognise its jurisdiction over American citizens or, by extension, the citizens of its close allies.
ICC Investigations Targeting US Allies Drive the Core of Washington’s Objections
The sanctions against Akane and Seye are, in large part, a direct response to ICC investigations targeting Israel, one of Washington’s closest strategic partners. In 2024, the court issued an arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in connection with the ongoing conflict in Gaza — a move the Trump administration characterised as a politically motivated overstep that threatens state sovereignty.
The ICC has also previously issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin over the war in Ukraine, issued in 2023, prompting Moscow to respond by issuing its own arrest warrants against senior court officials. Neither Israel nor Russia is a member of the ICC.
The pattern of ICC action against leaders of non-member states has formed the centrepiece of Washington’s argument that the court operates beyond its legitimate mandate. “The Trump Administration has been clear: the International Criminal Court is a corrupt and fatally politicized supranational court that has maliciously abused its authority and exceeded its mandate. We will not tolerate its assault on state sovereignty,” Rubio’s statement said.
The ICC’s Response and the Broader Impact on International Legal Norms
The ICC rejected the US position in forceful terms, issuing a statement on Tuesday declaring that the American sanctions “undermine the rule of law.” The court warned that threatening judicial actors for applying the law places the broader international legal order at risk, stating: “When judicial actors are threatened for applying the law, it is the international legal order itself that is placed at risk.”
The latest sanctions follow a significant diplomatic offensive launched by Washington last month, during which the US called on its international partners to withdraw from the ICC — a campaign that yielded results in at least two cases. Chad and Venezuela, which has aligned more closely with the United States since the capture and removal of former leader Nicolás Maduro, both announced their withdrawal from the court. The ICC expressed concern over those withdrawals, warning that such exits risk undermining the collective international pursuit of justice.
The domestic legal landscape in the United States has also become contested terrain. Last week, four human rights organisations filed a lawsuit against President Donald Trump in a New York federal court, arguing that the administration’s sanctions measures against the ICC block victims of war crimes from pursuing accountability through international legal channels.
Japan Condemns the Sanctions, Signalling International Pushback Against Washington’s Position
The sanctioning of a Japanese national in ICC President Tomoko Akane drew an immediate response from Tokyo, with Japan publicly denouncing the US measures. The diplomatic rebuke from one of Washington’s closest Asian allies underscores the extent to which the sanctions campaign risks straining relationships within the US alliance network, even as the administration presses its case against the court.
Akane, who holds the presidency of an institution that currently operates with an annual budget of approximately €185 million (roughly US$200 million) and has opened formal investigations in more than 17 situations worldwide, is the most prominent individual targeted in the administration’s ongoing sanctions campaign against the ICC.
The ICC’s foundational mandate — to ensure accountability for the most serious crimes under international law when domestic courts fail to act — places it at the intersection of international humanitarian law, geopolitical interests, and state sovereignty, a tension the current US-ICC conflict has thrown into stark relief.
The situation remains fluid, with no indication that the Trump administration intends to moderate its pressure campaign and no sign that the ICC plans to alter the scope of its ongoing investigations in response to US sanctions. — AFP/Additional Reporting
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