US Lifts Trump’s Sanctions on ICC Prosecutor, Court Official
Blinken said Washington was taking the steps even though it continued “to disagree strongly with the ICC’s actions relating to the Afghanistan and Palestinian situations” and to object to ICC “efforts to assert jurisdiction over personnel of non-States Parties such as the United States and Israel.”
“We believe, however, that our concerns about these cases would be better addressed through engagement with all stakeholders in the ICC process rather than through the imposition of sanctions,” his statement said.
Blinken said Washington was encouraged that a broad range of reforms were being considered to help the ICC “prioritize its resources and to achieve its core mission of serving as a court of last resort in punishing and deterring atrocity crimes.”
A spokesman for the ICC said the court and its governing body of member states welcomed the U.S. move.
In his formal announcement terminating the sanctions, dated Thursday, Biden said that while they were neither “effective or appropriate,” the United States would “vigorously protect current and former United States personnel” from any ICC attempts to exercise jurisdiction over them.
The Trump administration last year accused the Hague-based ICC of infringing on U.S. national sovereignty when it authorized an investigation into war crimes committed by Afghan forces, the Taliban or U.S. troops.
In September, it targeted court staff, including Bensouda, with asset freezes and travel bans for investigating American citizens without U.S. consent. The United States is not a member of the court.
The ICC said the sanctions were an attack on international justice and the rule of law.
Then-U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo also opposed an investigation launched in 2019 into alleged war crimes in the Palestinian Territories, including by Israeli forces.
