U.S. Sanctions against ICC: Pressure on Intl Justice Is Unacceptable

Editorial

15:20 JST, February 11, 2025

Sanctions against the International Criminal Court (ICC), of which 125 countries and regions including Japan are members, are nothing less than an attack on international order based on the rule of law. The United States must withdraw the sanctions.

U.S. President Donald Trump has signed an executive order imposing sanctions on ICC officials and others. The order called the ICC’s issuance of arrest warrants in November last year against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and others on suspicion of war crimes and other charges “illegitimate and baseless actions” targeting Israel and the United States.

The executive order states that ICC officials and their families will be subject to measures such as freezing their assets in the United States and banning them from traveling to the country. The specific targeted persons have not yet been identified.

The U.S. Senate had rejected a sanctions bill against the ICC. Trump may have decided to sanction the ICC by an executive order, which does not require congressional approval, to more clearly show his support for Israel.

The ICC was launched in 2002 as an independent, permanent body that prosecutes and punishes individuals who have committed genocide and other serious crimes.

The United States, China, Russia, Israel and other countries are not ICC members. However, when the ICC issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin on suspicion of war crimes in 2023 over Russia’s aggression into Ukraine, the administration of then U.S. President Joe Biden supported it as being “justified.”

Even though the Trump administration has taken over, it must be said that the United States putting pressure on the ICC — which also handles serious crimes in various regions such as Africa — for the purpose of defending Israel is a challenge to the judiciary.

ICC President Judge Tomoko Akane released a statement condemning the U.S. sanctions, saying that the court firmly rejects them. About 80 ICC member countries, including France and Germany, issued a joint statement reaffirming their support for the ICC.

It is extremely disappointing that Japan did not join this statement. Perhaps the Japanese government was concerned that it would have a negative impact on the summit between Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba and Trump. However, the ICC is an international organization headed by a Japanese citizen and to which Japan is the largest financial contributor.

Japan’s response is extremely pathetic because the country has insisted on the importance of law-based international order.

If Washington imposes the sanctions, it is highly likely that not only the targeted persons but also those providing funds, goods and services will be affected. Several suppliers reportedly have already expressed their desire to suspend business transactions with the ICC.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi said, “[Japan] respects the independence and security of the ICC.” The government should support the ICC with concrete actions so that the international body can continue its activities.

(From The Yomiuri Shimbun, Feb. 11, 2025)