ICC “deplores” new American sanctions against its judges and prosecutors

The International Criminal Court (ICC) said that it “deplores” new American sanctions against its judges and prosecutors.

On Wednesday, the United States Department of State announced new sanctions against two judges and two prosecutors in the ICC for efforts to continue the American and Israeli citizens.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio accused the ICC of being a “national security threat” and “an instrument of the law” against the United States and Israel.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu praised the American move. The ICC has expressed arrest mandates against Netanyahu and its former Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity during the War of Israel in Gaza.

France has joined the ICC to denounce the American move, expressing “dismay” as one of its judges, Nicolas Guillou, was among those sanctioned.

The three other CPI officials appointed by the United States were Judge Kimberly Prost of Canada as well as Nazhat Shameem Khan’s Deputy Prosecutors of Fiji and Mame Mandiaye Niang from Senegal.

Rubio condemned the “politicization, abuse of power and overtaking” illegitimate “in a statement announcing the sanctions.

The ICC is a global court having the power to cause prosecution for genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes.

The court described the last sanctions as “a blatant attack” against its independence and its impartiality.

“They also constitute an affront against … the international order based on rules and, above all, millions of innocent victims around the world,” he added.

The French Ministry of Foreign Affairs has criticized sanctions as “in contradiction with the principle of independent judicial power,” reported the AFP news agency.

Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu praised the decision, calling him “firm measure against the monthly defamation campaign” against Israel.

Gillou was sanctioned for authorization of arrest mandates against Nethanyahu and Gallant, according to the American State Department.

He said Prost, the Canadian judge, was sanctioned for an investigation into American staff in Afghanistan, adding that Khan and Niang were both responsible for “illegitimate actions against Israel”.

Sanctions mean that the four civil servants cannot access or benefit from property or interest they hold in the United States.

The latter series of sanctions comes after the United States has imposed similar restrictions on the CPI chief prosecutor, Karim Khan KC, as well as four other judges earlier this year.

The UN’s head of human rights previously asked the United States to withdraw its sanctions against the four judges, claiming that the decision is directly contrary to “respect for the rule of law”.

In July, the United States also sanctioned the special rapporteur of the UN Francesca Albanese Human Rights Council, which was an eminent critic of the military offensive of Israel in Gaza.

Rubio cited the support of Albanians at the ICC and its participation in the Court’s decisions to continue American or Israeli nationals as justification of this decision.

In response, the Albanians republished the support of the ICC on social media, saying that it came from the founding country of Italy from the Court, where lawyers and judges had “defended justice at great cost and often with their own life”.

“I intend to honor this tradition,” she added in the post.