The Trump administration sanctions the Canadian judge who sits at the International Criminal Court

The Trump administration tasted a Canadian judge of the International Criminal Court (ICC) with sanctions while the US State Department triggers a new wave of restrictions on judges who, according to him, had played a decisive role in a previous decision to investigate US officials and in efforts to continue Israeli leaders.

The State Department said that Judge Kimberly Prost of Canada was sanctioned for ruleing on the CPI’s investigation into American staff in Afghanistan.

CPI lawyers Nicolas Guillou, France, Nazhat Shameem Khan of Fiji and Mame Mandiaye Niang of Senegal were also sanctioned, the State Department connecting the decision to the court in the Actions of Israel in Gaza and the West Shore of Israeli-occupied. Following sanctions, all the assets they hold in American courts are frozen.

The court said on Wednesday that he had deplored the sanctions, describing them as a “blatant attack on the independence of a impartial judicial institution which operates under the mandate of 125 (countries) of all regions.

“They also constitute an affront with (these countries), the international order based on rules and, above all, millions of innocent victims around the world,” continued the press release. “The ICC will continue to fill its mandates, not discouraged, strictly in accordance with its legal framework adopted by the parts of the States and regardless of any restriction, pressure or threat.”

In a statement, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio described the court to “a national security threat, which was an instrument of the law against the United States and our close ally Israel” and said that the United States had remained firm in its opposition to “illegitimate judicial sudden” of the ICC “.

“I urge the countries that still support the ICC, of ​​which a lot of freedom have been bought at the cost of major American sacrifices, to resist the statements of this bankrupt institution,” he said.

This decision attracted the anger of France and the United Nations, Paris urging Washington to withdraw the sanctions.

The ICC had previously condemned the actions of the Trump administration, calling for this attempt to undermine the independence of an international judicial institution.

The Canada Prost joins an increasing list of ICC judges faced with similar sanctions.

This second cycle of sanctions comes less than three months after the US administration has taken an unprecedented step to impose sanctions on four other CPI judges.

He represents a serious escalation which will probably hinder the functioning of the court and the prosecutor’s office because they deal with major affairs, in particular allegations of war crimes against Russia concerning his invasion of Ukraine.

The ICC, which was created in 2002, has international jurisdiction to pursue genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes in the Member States or if a situation is referred by the United Nations Security Council.

War crimes surveys

Prost has sat at an ICC appeal chamber which, in March 2020, unanimously authorized the prosecutor of the court to investigate alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in Afghanistan since 2003, in particular by examining the role of American soldiers.

Since 2021, the investigation has prioritized the role of the United States and has focused on alleged crimes committed by the Afghan government and the Taliban forces.

The judges of the ICC have published arrest mandates against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the former Israeli Defense Chief Yoav Gallant last November for alleged war crimes against humanity during the Gaza conflict. A mandate for the same alleged crimes was also issued for the head of Hamas, Mohammed Diab Ibrahim Al-Masri, also known as Mohammed Deif, who is said that the Israeli army was killed in July 2024

Guillou is a CPI judge who presided over a group of pre-processes who issued the arrest warrant against Netanyahu. Khan and Niang are the two assistant prosecutors of the Court.

Netanyahu’s office has published a statement welcoming the latest American sanctions.

Although the ICC has competence on war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide in its 125 member countries, certain nations, notably the United States, China, Russia and Israel, do not recognize its authority.

He has investigations into high-level war crimes in progress in the conflict of Israel-Hamas and the war of Russia in Ukraine, as well as in Sudan, Myanmar, the Philippines and Venezuela.

“The role is essential”

France and the UN said that the work of lawyers was crucial for international justice.

“Their role is essential in the fight against impunity,” said a declaration by the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

American sanctions undermine the foundation of international justice, said UN spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric, adding: “The (American) decision requires serious obstacles to the functioning of the prosecutor’s office.”

The indication of the American administration for the court dates back to the first term of President Donald Trump. In 2020, the White House imposed sanctions on the prosecutor of the time, Fatou Bensouda, and on one of his best employees on the work of the court on Afghanistan.