US President Donald Trump stuck the sanctions against the International Criminal Court (ICC), accusing the body of attacking Israel and the United States.
In an executive decree published late Thursday, Trump described the “illegitimate” court and imposed restrictions on financial and American visas on ICC staff and anyone helping the ICC investigations against the United States and its allies .
Trump said the arrest warrants issued by the ICC in November for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant, accusing them of war crimes in Gaza, were “baseless”. However, analysts have described his prescription for sanctions as “an assault against the rule of law”.
Here is what we know so far:
What does the decree say?
Trump executive decree said that the ICC “abused its power” by issuing arrest warrants against Netanyahu and Gallant and said that the Hague-based court had taken “illegitimate” actions against the United States and its “nearby ally Israel.
The order of Trump, which coincides with the visit of Netanyahu in the United States, authorizes sanctions and restrictions such as asset frosts and the prohibitions to travel against CPI officials seeking to pursue American citizens and “Allies”.
The White House defined Israel as “a democratic state whose army strictly adheres to the laws of war”.
“The measures taken by the International Criminal Court against Israel and the United States have created a dangerous precedent,” he said, accusing the ICC of a “clever behavior that threatens to violate American sovereignty and undermine the national security and foreign policy ”.
Neither the United States nor Israel is signatories of the Rome status, the treaty which established the ICC in 2002.
How did the previous American administration react to arrest warrants?
In November, the president of the time, Joe Biden, called the ICC arrest warrant for Netanyahu “scandalous”.
In addition to the mandates of Netanyahu and Gallant, the ICC also issued an arrest warrant against the military commander of Hamas, Mohammed Al-Masri, known as Mohammed Deif, “for alleged crimes against humanity and the war crimes committed “in Israel on October 7, 2023 when Hamas directed attacks on the outposts and army villages in southern Israel, during which 1,139 people were killed and more 200 were taken captive in Gaza.
In a press release, Biden said: “Whatever the ICC involved, there is no equivalence – none – between Israel and Hamas. We will always stay with Israel against threats to its safety. »»
Israel said he killed Deif in July in southern Gaza. Hamas confirmed his death last week. The ICC charged with two other Hamas leaders, Yahya Sinwar and Ismail Haniyeh – who were also killed.
On January 9, the Chamber of Representatives of the United States adopted legislation that would sanction the ICC during a 243-140 vote.
“America adopts this law because a kangaroo court seeks to arrest the Prime Minister of our great ally Israel,” said representative Brian Mast, the republican president of the Chamber’s Foreign Affairs Committee, in a speech before voting.
The only legislators who did not support the bill were the Democrats. But 45 party members voted for this. On January 28, the US Senate blocked legislation.
How will the sanctions work?
Persons sanctioned can be denied entry to the United States. They could also include their American assets and be denied financial relations with “American people” and entities, including banks. Entities outside the United States could also lose access to the American financial system if they violate sanctions.
Violations of sanctions can cause fines and imprisonment.
Trump’s executive decree targets the ICC staff responsible for the “transgressions” of the court. Sanctions can also be applied to members of the staff family as well as those who help ICC surveys.
The names of the individuals targeted by the sanctions have not been published. But previous sanctions against the ICC – published in 2020 during Trump’s first mandate – were intended for the chief prosecutor and an assistant who conducted an ICC investigation into war crimes presumed by American soldiers in Afghanistan.
Will sanctions are stifling ICC surveys on Israeli war crimes?
Placing CPI officials under sanctions could hinder in progress surveys by making them more difficult to travel and access to funds. Trump’s actions are also likely to discredit international efforts to bring war criminals into justice.
Yossi Mekelberg, Israeli professor and analyst of Chatham House, based in London, told Al Jazeera: “It is an attempt to intimidate the ICC as an organization and those who work for this.” He added that the decree could “scare people to cooperate with the ICC”.
Saul Takahashi, professor of international human rights law at the University of Osaka Jogakuin in Japan, told Al Jazeera that the indirect implications of Trump’s decision “can be very serious.”
“The decree does not only exercise to sanction real staff of the ICC … but also people who cooperate with the ICC in the investigation into Israeli officials,” he said. “We are talking about human rights activists, victims, etc. These kinds of people can be excluded from the United States or cope with sanctions. ”
Neve Gordon, professor of law at Queen Mary University of London and member of the Board of Directors of the International State Crime Initiative, said that he does not expect the “extremely courageous” staff of the CPI returns to their investigations.
Gordon told Al Jazeera: “Given their [ICC staff members’] The history of resistance and their will to get up and tell the truth in power in order to respect the law despite years of pressure, I doubt that this decree makes them bow. »»
Will this order hinder the operation of the ICC?
In a statement published on Friday, the ICC said that Trump’s decree was looking to “harm his independent and impartial legal work”, but is committed to “continue to do justice and hope for millions of innocent victims of atrocities around the world ”.
“We call our 125 states parties, civil society and all the nations of the world to be united for justice and fundamental human rights,” he added.
International financial institutions may refrain from working with the court following sanctions.
“The stakes could not be higher,” said Gordon. “Even if the sanctions aim for the ICC and its independent and impartial legal work, they are in fact a direct attack on the international legal order of the post-second world war.
“By targeting the only international legal institution which has a capacity for execution relating to the international legal legal regime of the World War II, the Executive Decree undermines international humanitarian law, including 1949 Four Geneva Conventions, the Convention on The genocide of 1951 and a series of international conventions concerning the laws of war and human rights.
“This is an assault against the rule of law.”
Mekelberg said Trump’s decision sends a “scary message to other international bodies if they do not comply with the United States, they could suffer.”
However, Takahashi said that the direct impact of American sanctions on the ICC would most likely be “limited”.
The court “is not in the United States. It was in The Hague in the Netherlands, “Takahashi told Al Jazeera, adding that only ICC staff with American assets were in danger.
What have been the reactions to order so far?
Trump’s decree has caused alarm expressions around the world. The president of the European Council, Antonio Costa, said that the sanctions “undermine the international system of criminal justice as a whole”.
The sanction of the ICC threatens the independence of the court and undermines the international criminal justice system as a whole.
– António Costa (@EUCOPRESIDE) February 7, 2025
The Netherlands said that this “regrets” the order, declaring that the work of the court is “essential in the fight against impunity”. Amnesty International labeled the “reckless” move.
For his part, the Israeli Prime Minister applauded Trump’s decision. On X, Netanyahu poster: “Thank you, President Trump, for your daring ICC executive decree. He will defend America and Israel against the anti-American and corrupt anti-Semitic court. »»
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu:
Thank you, President Trump, for your daring CIC decree. He will defend America and Israel against the anti-American and corrupt anti-Semetic Court which has no competence or base to engage in the realization against us.– Prime Minister of Israel (@israelipm) February 7, 2025
Meanwhile, the Israeli Minister of Foreign Affairs Gideon Saar said He “strongly” congratulated Trump’s decree.
“The ICC is aggressively pursuing the elected leaders of Israel, the only democracy in the Middle East,” wrote Saar on X. “The ICC does not have competence-Israel and the United States are not parties Rome status and are not members of the ICC.
