The United States has imposed sanctions on the International Criminal Court as an institution, escalating a long-running confrontation with the tribunal and prompting strong condemnation from the Court and the United Nations’.top human rights official.
The U.S. Department of State said the designation was intended to defend American sovereignty and protect U.S. citizens from what it described as a threat posed by the court.
The action was taken under Executive Order 14203, titled “Imposing Sanctions on the International Criminal Court.” According to a State Department fact sheet, the United States has now sanctioned 17 people under the order.
The department said the latest measure targets the ICC itself and is part of broader efforts under President Donald Trump to “neutralize” the threat it believes the court presents.
The Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control is issuing several general licenses alongside the sanctions. One license will permit specified activity needed to maintain the ICC’s operations for 180 days.
Other authorizations cover certain
information-technology services, including cloud and software support; the court’s pension plan; and activity involving ICC detainees.
The State Department said the 180-day maintenance license is designed to give countries that are party to the Rome Statute time to demonstrate “meaningful progress” toward diplomatic and legal solutions addressing fundamental U.S. concerns.
It added that the authorization could be adjusted depending on the outcome of those efforts. Under the sanctions, property and interests in property belonging to the ICC that are located in the United States, or held by US persons, are blocked and must be reported to
OFAC.
Transactions by U.S. persons, or transactions conducted in or transiting the United States, involving blocked property are prohibited unless an exemption or OFAC license applies.
The restrictions generally bar the provision or receipt of funds, goods or services involving blocked parties, subject to the licenses and exceptions issued by the Treasury Department.
The State Department directed parties seeking removal from the sanctions list to OFAC’s reconsideration process.
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk described the institutional sanctions as “unacceptable” and urged immediate steps to protect the court, as well as groups and individuals cooperating with it.
“These sanctions — the latest in a series of retaliatory steps against the ICC and its personnel for the work they do every day to advance accountability for the very worst violations of human rights — are unacceptable,” Türk said in Geneva.
He called on the 125 states party to the Rome Statute to take urgent action to defend the court and ensure that it can continue operating. Türk also urged countries that have not joined the ICC to respect its independence and work.
The high commissioner said the latest U.S. action follows sanctions imposed since February 2025 against half of the court’s 18 judges, its former prosecutor, both deputy prosecutors and a senior staff member.
He also criticized earlier convictions in absentia issued by Russia against the former ICC prosecutor and eight judges, which included prison sentences of up
to 15 years.
Türk called for all sanctions against the ICC and its personnel to be withdrawn, arguing that accountability mechanisms should be strengthened rather than punished.
“It is abundantly clear in all the conflicts and crises that plague our world that impunity fuels violence and suffering,” he said. “We need to be investing more in ensuring justice and accountability — rather than penalizing those who are documenting, investigating and
prosecuting serious violations.”
The ICC rejected the U.S. action in its own statement, calling it unprecedented attempt to target an independent judicial institution established by treaty and supported by 125 states.
The court said its mandate covers genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and the crime of aggression. The ICC described the designation as an effort to disrupt its operations and intimidate those who work for or cooperate with it.
President Tomoko Akane said the court would continue carrying out its mandate independently and impartially, based on law and evidence and on behalf of victims of grave crimes.
“The Court will continue to fully discharge its mandate, with independence and impartiality, acting only on the basis of the law and the evidence, for the sake of the countless victims of grave crimes,” Akane said.
The court acknowledged that the sanctions could create operational challenges but said it had taken steps with its member states to maintain continuity and resilience.
It urged states parties to take concrete measures to ensure that the ICC has the resources needed to continue its work. The dispute places renewed pressure on the ICC’s member states, which face a choice between defending the court publicly and managing the practical consequences of U.S. restrictions.
The opposing statements also underscore a fundamental divide: Washington frames the sanctions as a defense of national sovereignty, while the ICC and UN human rights leadership portray them as attack on international accountability and the principle that no one is above the law.
The U.S. announcement did not indicate that the sanctions would immediately halt all ICC activity. The licenses provide limited authorization for specified operations, while leaving the broader restrictions in place. State Department said further details were available through OFAC.
The ICC said the stakes extend beyond its own institutional survival, arguing that the confrontation will test whether the international community will defend the legal order established to prosecute the gravest crimes.
“History will judge this moment,” the court said, warning that victims of mass atrocities and future generations would assess how governments responded when the institution created to protect them came under pressure.
