The ICC expressed concern about the Trump administration’s campaign to encourage states to withdraw from the court, arguing that such states risk undermining the collective pursuit of justice.
The International Criminal Court (ICC) slammed the United States after the Trump administration added the president and one of its senior lawyers to its sanctions list, calling the move a “clear attack” on the agency’s independence.
The ICC’s response on Wednesday comes after the United States imposed sanctions on ICC President Tomoko Akane and senior trial lawyer Abdullahi Saye as part of a campaign against what it calls “corrupt and deadly politicized entities.”
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Akane, a Japanese judge, has been the ICC president since the March 2024 election. Sayet is a Senegalese lawyer at the court.
“These sanctions are a flagrant attack on the independence of an impartial judiciary,” the Hague-based court said in a statement.
“Such measures targeting judges, prosecutors, and officials undermine the rule of law.”
The U.S. government’s move follows sanctions imposed on several ICC officials in response to the court’s investigations, primarily involving Israel, a U.S. ally.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Toshihiro Kitamura said in a statement that Japan also opposes the sanctions and has “consistently supported the ICC in its efforts to prosecute and punish the most serious crimes of concern to the international community and to uphold the rule of law.”
Japan is the largest donor to the ICC and a close ally of the United States.
The European Union also supported Akane.
In twin statements on social media, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President Antonio Costa said they would “firmly cooperate” with Akane and other government officials, who “must be able to act independently and without external pressure.”
Secretary of State Marco Rubio earlier said in a statement, without giving any examples, that the sanctions were “individuals directly involved in the ICC’s efforts to investigate, arrest, detain, and prosecute officials whose governments have not consented to the ICC’s jurisdiction.”
In response, the ICC said in a statement on Tuesday: “When judicial actors are threatened with the application of the law, the very international legal order is at risk.”
Established in 2002, the ICC prosecutes individuals accused of the most serious atrocities and acts as a last resort when countries do not have adequate legal systems to ensure accountability.
The Trump administration has already imposed sanctions on ICC officials, and the ICC issued an arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over his genocidal war in Gaza in 2024.
The measure would prohibit them from entering the United States and from doing business in the U.S. financial system.
Last month, the U.S. government launched a major diplomatic offensive against the ICC, accusing it of “intimidating” American citizens and calling on its partners to withdraw from the ICC, a move Chad and Venezuela had already announced.
The ICC expressed concern about these withdrawals, arguing that such states risk undermining the collective pursuit of justice.
The United States signed the Rome Statute establishing the ICC but did not ratify the treaty. Israel and Russia are also not members of the ICC.
Last week, four human rights groups, including Human Rights Watch, sued President Donald Trump in a New York court over sanctions against the ICC, saying the measures prevent victims of war crimes from seeking justice.
In 2023, the ICC issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin over the Ukraine war, and in response, the Russian government issued its own arrest warrants for senior court officials, including Akane.
