BRUSSELS/FRANKFURT/PARIS (dpa-AFX) - The Trump Administration has imposed sanctions against two top-most officials of the International Criminal Court as part of what it calls a campaign to address the threat posed by The Hague-based war crimes tribunal.
Announcing the sanctions against ICC President Tomoko Akane and ICC Senior Trial Lawyer Abdoulaye Seye on Tuesday, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said they directly engaged in efforts by the ICC to investigate, arrest, detain, or prosecute officials whose government has not consented to ICC jurisdiction.
He alleged that ICC has repeatedly attempted to assert authority over nationals of the United States and other countries that have not consented to its jurisdiction or ratified the Rome Statute.
'Our whole of government campaign to dismantle the threat posed by the ICC to national sovereignty will be sweeping and we expect more countries to join our campaign by ending their funding and participation in this politicized and unaccountable court.'
Rubio added that the Trump Administration will take 'additional measures, if necessary, to systematically dismantle the ICC until it is incapable of threatening American sovereignty.'
The sanctions freeze any assets the ICC officials hold in the United States, and largely cut them off from the US financial system.
Abdoulaye Seye is part of the prosecution team that sought an arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant over alleged war crimes in Gaza.
A Senegalese national, Seye is a nominee for election as ICC judge.
Japan's Foreign Ministry described the sanctioning of Akane, who is a Japanese citizen, as unfortunate.
'Japan has consistently supported the ICC, which is a permanent international criminal court, in its efforts to prosecute and punish the most serious crimes of concern to the international community and to uphold the rule of law. From this standpoint, the announced measures are very unfortunate,' the ministry said in a statement Wednesday.
Israeli media reports that the ICC is considering seeking arrest warrants for several senior Israeli officials in connection with the investigation.
Neither the United States nor Israel is a party to the Rome Statute under which the court was established in 2002 to prosecute war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity, and therefore are not subject to ICC jurisdiction.
Last month, Marco Rubio launched a campaign against ICC 'to dismantle the threat posed by the ICC to US sovereignty.'
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