Rubio Sanctions the President of the International Criminal Court and a Senior Trial Lawyer

Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced on Tuesday that the administration was sanctioning ICC President Tomoko Akane, a Japanese judge who has led the court since March 2024, and Senegalese senior trial lawyer Abdoulaye Seye. Rubio said the two "have directly engaged in efforts by the ICC to investigate, arrest, detain, or prosecute officials whose government has not consented to ICC jurisdiction," and framed the step as part of a stated campaign to dismantle the court. The designations freeze any U.S. assets and restrict U.S.-based entities from transacting with them beginning September 17.

The United States has now sanctioned more than a dozen ICC judges and prosecutors, a pattern that has led financial institutions to cut designated officials off from much of the international banking system. Sanctioning the sitting head of a court is a step beyond targeting individual prosecutors handling particular cases.

The ICC said it "strongly rejects" the sanctions, warning that when judicial actors are threatened for applying the law, "it is the international legal order itself that is placed at risk." Japan's foreign ministry called the decision "very unfortunate" and the Dutch foreign minister said the Netherlands disapproved.