The United States has imposed sanctions on Tomoko Akane, a Japanese judge who also heads the International Criminal Court (ICC).
“In furtherance of the diplomatic campaign we launched last month to address the ICC’s abuses of power, I am designating two ICC officials – President of the ICC, Tomoko Akane of Japan, and ICC Senior Trial Lawyer, Abdoulaye Seye of Senegal – pursuant to Executive Order 14203, ‘Imposing Sanctions on the International Criminal Court,'” Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement. “These individuals have directly engaged in efforts by the ICC to investigate, arrest, detain, or prosecute officials whose government has not consented to ICC jurisdiction.”
Rubio added that the Trump administration is taking a “whole of government” approach to take down the threats posed by the ICC. “The ICC’s ability to target American nationals and those of other non-States Parties must end,” he said. “The Trump Administration stands ready to take additional measures, if necessary, to systematically dismantle the ICC until it is incapable of threatening American sovereignty.”
Rubio previously sanctioned ICC judges in December.
Both sanction actions align with President Trump’s February executive order calling for sanctions on the ICC. “The ICC’s recent actions against Israel and the United States set 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,” the order says. “This malign conduct in turn threatens to infringe upon the sovereignty of the United States and undermines the critical national security and foreign policy work of the United States Government and our allies, including Israel.”
A lawsuit was recently filed against the Trump administration for its sanction actions. Those behind the filing argue that the sanctions prevent the ICC from carrying out its duties.
