US sanctions ICC president and senior trial lawyer

The United States has imposed sanctions on the president of the International Criminal Court and a senior trial lawyer, expanding a Trump administration campaign aimed at weakening the Hague-based tribunal over its investigations involving the US and Israel.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced the designations against ICC President Tomoko Akane of Japan and Abdoulaye Seye of Senegal, a senior trial lawyer at the court. Rubio said they had “directly engaged in efforts by the ICC to investigate, arrest, detain, or prosecute officials whose government has not consented to ICC jurisdiction”.

“The Trump Administration is sanctioning ICC President Tomoko Akane and Senior Trial Lawyer Abdoulaye Seye in our unwavering mission to protect Americans from this sham of a court,” Rubio wrote on social media. “In honor of our Declaration of Independence, Americans will never be transported beyond seas to be tried for pretend offenses.”

The sanctions freeze any assets the two officials may have in the US and limit US-based entities from conducting transactions with them, starting September 17, Al Jazeera reported.

Akane, a Japanese judge, has served as ICC president since her election in March 2024. Seye, from Senegal, is a senior trial lawyer at the court. Rubio did not specify which actions by the two officials prompted the sanctions. The Guardian reported that Israeli media have said Seye is also overseeing an investigation into Israeli funding for illegal settlements and the distribution of weapons to settlers in the West Bank.

Rubio called the ICC a “corrupt and fatally politicized supranational court that has maliciously abused its authority and exceeded its mandate” and said the US would not tolerate what he described as its “assault on state sovereignty”. Last month, the State Department announced an effort to “dismantle the threat” posed by the court, saying the goal was to “disable the ICC’s ability to operate, target American servicemen or officials, or otherwise threaten American sovereignty”.

The Trump administration has protested ICC investigations involving both the US and Israel. Neither country is a member of the court or recognizes its jurisdiction. Supporters of the court argue that it can investigate and prosecute conduct carried out in its 125 member states even when alleged perpetrators come from countries outside its membership. The ICC’s mandate covers crimes including genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity.

The US previously sanctioned ICC prosecutor Karim Khan, who successfully sought arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former defense minister Yoav Gallant over alleged war crimes during the Gaza war. In 2020, the ICC opened a probe into allegations of US war crimes in Afghanistan, where the US led a multi-decade war until 2021.

Trump sanctioned the court in 2025, saying in an executive order that it had “engaged in illegitimate and baseless actions targeting America and our close ally Israel”. Rubio has called on the ICC’s 125 member countries to withdraw from the body. Al Jazeera reported that several countries, including Chad and Venezuela, have announced plans to withdraw, with critics citing US influence as a motivating factor.

The US has already sanctioned at least 11 ICC officials, according to The Guardian, while Al Jazeera reported that more than a dozen ICC judges and prosecutors have been sanctioned. Al Jazeera also reported that the measures have triggered responses from financial institutions that cut sanctioned individuals off from much of the international banking system.

The ICC has condemned the US campaign. “When judicial actors are threatened for applying the law, it is the international legal order itself that is placed at risk,” the court said. Human rights groups and ICC judges have also challenged the sanctions in court. Four human rights groups sued Trump last week, saying the sanctions prevent victims of war crimes from seeking justice, while three ICC judges sued in June, calling the measures “arbitrary and capricious”.