New rules will target individuals involved with ICC investigations with visa and financial sanctions.
President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Feb. 6 to impose visa and financial sanctions on individuals who assist the International Criminal Court (ICC) in investigating the United States and its allies.
“The United States will impose tangible and significant consequences on those responsible for the ICC’s transgressions, some of which may include the blocking of property and assets, as well as the suspension of entry into the United States of ICC officials, employees, and agents, as well as their immediate family members, as their entry into our Nation would be detrimental to the interests of the United States,” the order reads.
Policy actions take effect immediately with the goal of deterring investigations into military activities.
The ICC’s actions targeting the United States over incidents in Afghanistan, and Israel—because of its security measures related to Palestinian territories—are contrary to “national sovereignty and security interests,” according to a fact sheet provided by the White House.
Established in 1998 by the Rome Statute, the ICC was meant to provide judicial services when no other options were available.
The United States, which has been investigated by the ICC on several occasions, never agreed to the statute or consented to ICC jurisdiction.
Trump’s order declares that the United States “remains committed to accountability and to the peaceful cultivation of international order, but the ICC and parties to the Rome Statute must respect the decisions of the United States and other countries not to subject their personnel to the ICC’s jurisdiction, consistent with their respective sovereign prerogatives.”
A White House fact sheet said the ICC and its chief prosecutor are granted overly broad, “unaccountable powers that pose a significant threat to United States sovereignty and our constitutional protections.”
Saying that the ICC has engaged in “illegitimate and baseless actions” targeting the United States and Israel, the order describes the inquiries as setting a “dangerous precedent, directly endangering current and former United States personnel, including active service members of the Armed Forces, by exposing them to harassment, abuse, and possible arrest.”
