US President Donald Trump will sign an executive order today, February 6, imposing sanctions on the International Criminal Court (ICC). The restrictions will target certain ICC officials, according to NBC News.
The executive order will include both financial sanctions and visa restrictions against ICC officials who have facilitated investigations into US citizens or their allies. The sanctions will also extend to family members of ICC staff.
Specifically, Trump’s executive order claims that the arrest warrants issued by the ICC last year for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and several Hamas leaders created a "shameful moral equivalency.”
NBC News notes that the signing of the order is likely timed with the Israeli Prime Minister's visit to Washington.
During his first presidential term, Trump emphasized that the ICC has "no jurisdiction, no legitimacy and no authority" in the US, and neither the US nor Israel are parties to the Rome Statute.
"The ICC was designed to be a court of last resort. Both the United States and Israel maintain robust judiciary systems and should never be subject to the jurisdiction of the ICC," the explanatory document to the order reads.
US sanctions against the ICC
The Guardian reported on January 20 that the International Criminal Court (ICC) was preparing for US sanctions.
Sources cited by the agency emphasized that sanctions against court officials would not cause serious inconveniences. However, problems could arise from restrictions targeting the entire institution. Such sanctions would pose threats to the very existence of the court.
