US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Tuesday announced that the Trump administration has imposed sanctions on the president of the International Criminal Court (ICC) and a senior trial lawyer.

The move is the latest escalation in the Trump administration's attacks on the international body.

Established in 2002 and based in The Hague, Netherlands, the ICC prosecutes war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity. The US is not a member of the Court.

What did Rubio say about the sanctions against the ICC?

Rubio said the US — acting under authority of an executive order signed by President Donald Trump — had leveled sanctions against ICC President Tomoko Akane, a Japanese judge; and Abdoulaye Seye, a Senegalese trial lawyer at the ICC.

"These individuals," said Rubio, "have directly engaged in efforts by the ICC to investigate, arrest, detain, or prosecute officials whose government has not consented to ICC ‌jurisdiction."

Rubio wrote Tuesday on X that the move was part of Washington's "unwavering mission to protect Americans from this sham of a court."

Why is the US trying to undermine the ICC?

The ICC asserts its jurisdiction only if member states are unable or unwilling to prosecute atrocities themselves.

However, the Court's statute also gives it the power to prosecute nationals of non-member states who commit atrocities on the territory of a member state.

Rubio argues the ICC poses a threat to US personnel carrying out President Trump's hardline immigration policies or "drug interdiction" strikes on boats in international waters, as well as other US ⁠service members.

"The Trump Administration has been clear: The International Criminal Court is a corrupt and fatally politicized supranational court that has maliciously abused its authority and exceeded its mandate," the State Department said in a statement. "We will not tolerate its assault on state sovereignty."

Last year, the US imposed sanctions on several ICC officials after the Court issued arrest warrants for Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Galant over the war in Gaza.

Last month, Rubio said the Trump administration would step up its efforts to undermine the ICC, including a diplomatic campaign aimed ​at persuading other countries to ‌quit the Court.

Chad and Venezuela, for instance, have already heeded the US call and withdrawn from the ICC.

Trump has said the US campaign is aimed at defending ally Netanyahu and others from prosecution, not himself.

Three ICC judges sued the Trump administration in June, calling sanctions illegal; and last week, four human rights groups followed suit, arguing that victims of war crimes were being denied justice as a result of the president's actions.

How has the ICC reacted to Washington's latest attack?

Tuesday's sanctions bar Akane and Seye from entering the US and from making transactions within the US financial system.

The ICC on Tuesday said it remains "undeterred" and stands behind all its staff.

The Court rejected Washington's approach, saying "measures targeting judges, prosecutors and staff who work towards the fulfillment of the mandate that was conferred to the ICC by states undermine the rule of law."

"When judicial actors are threatened for applying the law, it is the international legal order itself that is placed at risk," the Court said in a statement.

Edited by: Karl Sexton

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