The United States on Tuesday imposed sanctions on Tomoko Akane, the Japanese judge serving as president of the International Criminal Court (ICC), according to the U.S. Treasury Department.
The move represents the latest escalation in President Donald Trump’s administration’s campaign against the Hague-based court, which was established in 2002 by the international community to prosecute war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity. The United States is not a member of the ICC, Reuters reported.
Last year, the United States imposed targeted sanctions on several ICC officials, including prosecutors and judges, citing the court’s arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, as well as its previous investigation into U.S. military personnel in Afghanistan.
The sanctions freeze any assets the targeted individuals may have in the United States and effectively cut them off from the U.S. financial system, to which virtually all major international banks are connected.
In June, three ICC judges sued Trump and his administration over the sanctions imposed on them, arguing that the measures were unlawful.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said last month that the administration would intensify efforts to undermine the ICC, including through a diplomatic campaign aimed at persuading other countries to withdraw from the institution.
Rubio argued that the court poses a threat to U.S. personnel implementing Trump’s tough immigration policies, as well as to Americans involved in operations against boats allegedly carrying drugs and other U.S. military personnel.
Trump has said the purpose of the campaign is to protect Netanyahu and others from prosecution, rather than to protect himself.
