US hits International Criminal Court with sweeping sanctions as part of drive to dismantle tribunal

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration has imposed sweeping new sanctions on the International Criminal Court as part of its campaign to dismantle the tribunal that the U.S. believes has become politicized and attempted to unfairly and illegally prosecute Americans and Israelis on war crimes charges.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced the sanctions on Friday, after the Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to South African prosecutor Navi Pillay,

who had led investigations into potential ICC charges against U.S. troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. The move, however, long predated the Nobel Prize announcement.

“We will ban transactions with this rogue court, cutting off their resources and crippling its ability to operate against us,” Rubio said in a video address posted to social media. “The United States and the American people are not subject to the jurisdiction of this fake ICC.”

The sanctions block any assets the ICC as an institution might have in U.S. jurisdictions and set a six-month timeline for U.S. companies and individuals that have business with the court to wind that business down.

Rubio said both Republicans and Democrats have deep reservations about the court, which was established to prosecute war crimes and crimes against humanity that might not otherwise be handled by the parties involved. But he said that only President Donald Trump was willing to move against the court.

“Both parties agree on this, but only President Trump has the resolve to take the action needed to end this threat once and for all," Rubio said. “Either the ICC will end its threats, or we will end the ICC.”

Rubio added that the U.S. expects its allies to join in the actions against the ICC. Those include many NATO members in Europe and Japan.

“We expect our allies, many of whom are part of the ICC and that rely on American service members for their defense, to rein in this rogue court,” he said. “If they do not, the United States will continue its campaign to dismantle the ICC, piece by piece, until Americans are threatened no longer.”