Human rights defenders on Friday accused U.S. President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio of criminal obstruction after Rubio announced sanctions targeting four International Criminal Court judges who authorized an investigation into torture allegations against American troops in Afghanistan and arrest warrants for fugitive Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Rubio sanctioned International Criminal Court Judges Solomy Balungi Bossa of Uganda, Luz del Carmen Ibáñez Carranza of Peru, Reine Adelaide Sophie Alapini Gansou of Benin, and Beti Hohler of Slovenia "pursuant to President Trump's Executive Order 14203." The order was issued in February and sanctioned ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan and accused the Hague-based tribunal of "baseless actions targeting America and our close ally Israel."
"These four individuals have actively engaged in the ICC's illegitimate and baseless actions targeting America or our close ally, Israel," Rubio added. "The ICC is politicized and falsely claims unfettered discretion to investigate, charge, and prosecute nationals of the United States and our allies."
Two of the sanctioned judges authorized a probe of U.S. war crimes in Afghanistan. The other two green-lighted warrants for the arrest of Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant, his former defense minister, for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza, including weaponized starvation and the murder of Palestinians—at least 54,607 of whom have been killed since Israel began its assault and siege of Gaza following the October 7, 2023 Hamas-led attack, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.
The ICC's Assembly of State Parties—the court's governing body—said in a statement Friday that the U.S. sanctions are a "regrettable" effort to "impede the court and its personnel in the exercise of their independent judicial functions.
Kenneth Roth, a professor at the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs and former director of Human Rights Watch, on Friday accused Trump and Rubio of "obstructing justice under Article 70 of the Rome Statute," the treaty establishing and governing the ICC.
Christoph Safferling, director of the International Nuremberg Principles Academy—a Germany-based foundation "dedicated to the advancement of international criminal law and related human rights"— said Friday that 80 years after the the Nuremberg Trials of Nazi war criminals, "obstructing the ICC is an affront to the commitment to justice and the rule of law."
"The court carries forward this legacy and calls for our steadfast support in the fight against impunity," Safferling added.
United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk said Friday that he was "profoundly disturbed" by the U.S. sanctions.
"Attacks against judges for performance of their judicial functions, at national or international levels, run directly counter to respect for the rule of law and the equal protection of the law—values for which the U.S. has long stood," Türk added.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the European Union "deeply regrets" the Trump administration's move.
Slovenia's Foreign Ministry said that "Slovenia regrets the announced sanctions by the U.S. government against four judges of the International Criminal Court, including a judge from Slovenia," and "rejects pressure on judicial institutions and influence on judicial operations."
"Courts must act in the interests of law and justice," the ministry continued. "In the current situation we will support the judge, who is a Slovenian citizen in carrying out her mandate." Due to the inclusion of an E.U. member state on the sanctions list, Slovenia will propose the immediate activation of the blocking act."
The E.U.'s blocking statute is meant to protect businesses in the 27-nation bloc from adverse consequences of foreign—particularly U.S.—sanctions.
During the first Trump administration, former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo sanctioned then-ICC Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda and Prosecution Jurisdiction Division Director Phakiso Mochochoko for investigating U.S. war crimes in Afghanistan. This, even after the ICC Pre-Trial Chamber II announced it would not grant a request by Bensouda to open an investigation into the alleged torture of prisoners held in U.S. military and secret CIA prisons in Afghanistan, Poland, Romania, and Lithuania.
In 2021, Khan angered human rights defenders by announcing he was seeking approval to resume an investigation into potential war crimes in Afghanistan committed by the Taliban and the Islamic State—but would exclude alleged crimes perpetrated by U.S. forces.
U.S. and Israeli officials often note that neither country is a party to the Rome Statute. However, the court has affirmedr its jurisdiction "in relation to crimes committed on the territory of Palestine, including Gaza," as well as "over crimes committed by Palestinian nationals inside or outside Palestinian territory."
Responding to the U.S. sanctions, Amnesty International secretary general Agnès Callamard said Friday that "this is an attack against international justice and the fight against impunity."
"Governments who believe in a rule-based order must take all necessary measures to protect the four judges against the impact of the sanctions," she continued. "They must assure the ICC of their full support. They must voice their commitment to the independence and impartiality of the ICC clearly and loudly. They must implement all arrest warrants and support the ICC in all its investigations."
"International justice is a battleground. It has been so from the very beginning," Callamard added. "Victims know so all too well. We will keep fighting and resisting all attempts to derail, undermine, destroy the search for justice and the rule of law."
In April, the ACLU filed a lawsuit in a Maine federal court on behalf of Matthew Smith, co-founder of the human rights group Fortify Rights, and international lawyer Akila Radhakrishnan arguing that Trump's sanctions against Khan violate their First Amendment rights.