The US has authorised economic sanctions against International Criminal Court officials involved in investigating or prosecuting US and allied military personnel for alleged war crimes, as Washington escalates its attack on the Netherlands-based court.
In an executive order issued on Thursday, Donald Trump said the US would freeze financial assets of anyone who aided the ICC probes in any way, including by providing “material support” to investigations. The US also expanded existing visa restrictions on officials directly involved in investigations into US military behaviour to include those individuals’ family members.
The US has long seen the ICC as a threat to its sovereignty. In 2017 the ICC — which was established in 2002 to prosecute war criminals — asked judges for permission to investigate alleged war crimes carried out in Afghanistan.