International Criminal Court President Tomoko Akane broke her silence after the United States sanctioned her, warning the world must not allow the measures to mark the beginning of the end of the international rule of law.
Akane, a Japanese judge who has led the ICC since March 2024, made her first public remarks on Friday after Washington designated her and Senegalese senior trial lawyer Abdoulaye Seye for sanctions on August 18. “The sanction against me this time was something I had anticipated to an extent, so I’m not surprised,” she said in a statement released by her publisher Bungei Shunju. “The important thing is not to let this be the beginning of the demise of international rule of law,” AFP quoted her as saying.
US targets court leadership
The US measures bar Akane and Seye from entering the United States and from carrying out any transactions in the US financial system. Secretary of State Marco Rubio described the ICC as a “corrupt and fatally politicized” body, and said the sanctions were imposed to protect Americans from the court’s “illegitimate actions.”
The ICC on Wednesday called the US sanctions a “flagrant attack” on the court’s independence. The measures are the latest escalation in a campaign by the Trump administration that has previously targeted former ICC prosecutor Karim Khan, four judges, two deputy prosecutors, and other officials. The campaign is seen as largely in response to the court’s investigations involving Israel, a close US ally.
International backlash mounts
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk and top EU officials threw their support behind Akane and the court. Japan, the ICC’s largest funder and a close US ally, also objected, with the foreign ministry saying it “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.”
The sanctions carry real operational consequences beyond symbolism. Previous measures against ICC officials cut them off from US-based services including Amazon, PayPal, Visa, and Mastercard, and created secondary effects on transactions with European companies. Human Rights Watch, along with the American Friends Service Committee, the Center for Constitutional Rights, and the Open Society Institute, filed a lawsuit in US federal court on August 11 challenging the Trump administration’s sanctions against ICC officials.
The confrontation deepens a widening rift between Washington and the international legal establishment. With the ICC’s president now personally targeted, the court faces the prospect of its leadership being unable to travel to or transact with the world’s largest economy. Established in 2002, the ICC prosecutes individuals accused of the gravest atrocities and acts as a last resort when countries cannot ensure accountability domestically.
Sources: Asharq Al-Awsat; AFP; Human Rights Watch; Verfassungsblog; Al Jazeera
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