According to Reuters, a coalition of 79 countries has condemned Donald Trump’s recent sanctions against the International Criminal Court (ICC), asserting that such actions will “erode the international rule of law.”
This joint statement was issued just hours after Trump signed an executive order imposing financial sanctions and visa restrictions on ICC staff and their families, accusing the court of unjustly targeting the United States and Israel.
“We reaffirm our continued and unwavering support for the independence, impartiality, and integrity of the ICC,” the group declared, representing approximately two-thirds of the court’s 125 member states.
Notable signatories include France, Germany, and Britain, while Australia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Italy did not join the statement. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban openly supported Trump’s move, describing it as part of a “Trump-tornado” reshaping international politics.
The Czech and Italian governments have yet to comment on their absence from the declaration.
The Netherlands, the court’s host nation, expressed regret over the sanctions and reaffirmed its commitment to supporting the ICC’s work. “We don’t yet know the exact impact, but it could severely hinder the court’s operations in certain areas,” Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof acknowledged, adding that he had not yet discussed the sanctions with Trump.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and other European Union leaders criticized Trump’s decision, asserting that “sanctions are the wrong tool.” Scholz emphasized that they threaten an institution vital for preventing dictators from committing atrocities and waging wars.
In a strong response, the ICC condemned the sanctions, vowing to “stand firmly by its personnel” and continue delivering justice for countless innocent victims of atrocities worldwide.
Court officials convened urgent meetings in The Hague to assess the sanctions’ implications, as the U.S. measures include freezing assets of designated individuals and barring them and their families from entering the United States. It remains unclear when the U.S. will release the names of those sanctioned. During his first term in 2020, Trump had previously imposed sanctions on then-prosecutor Fatou Bensouda and another senior ICC official over the court’s investigation into alleged war crimes by American troops in Afghanistan.
Notably, the United States, China, Russia, and Israel are not members of the ICC. Trump’s executive order followed a recent U.S. Senate vote, where Democrats blocked a Republican-led initiative to establish a sanctions regime against the war crimes court.
In anticipation of potential financial restrictions, the ICC has taken proactive measures to protect its staff, including advancing salaries by three months. In December, ICC President Judge Tomoko Akane warned that sanctions could “rapidly undermine the court’s operations” and threaten its very existence.
The ICC has also faced challenges from Russia, which issued an arrest warrant for President Vladimir Putin in 2023, accusing him of war crimes related to the illegal deportation of Ukrainian children. In retaliation, Russia has barred ICC Chief Prosecutor Karim Khan from entry and placed him, along with two ICC judges, on its wanted list.
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