US sanctions ICC president and senior lawyer over Israel

The US announced that it has sanctioned International Criminal Court President Tomoko Akane and another ICC lawyer.

The ICC said Washington's actions were a blatant attack on the independence of the global judicial organisation.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced on Tuesday that Washington has imposed sanctions on International Criminal Court President Tomoko Akane from Japan and Abdoulaye Seye, an ICC senior trial lawyer from Senegal.

The pair have been banned from entering US soil.

The US government also froze all assets within US territory belonging to the ICC president and lawyer, and severed their links to American financial systems.

Washington noted the individuals directly engaged in efforts to investigate, arrest, detain or prosecute officials whose governments have not consented to ICC jurisdiction.

The US also condemned the ICC for issuing an arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, with the Hague-based court having accused the Israeli leader for engaging in war crimes.

Washington's statement further called the tribunal corrupt and politicised, adding that the ICC is misusing its powers to investigate and judge politicians and military personnel from the US and Israel.

This as the tribunal criticised the US' latest move for endangering international order.

Today, the court is facing existential threat from the United States in the form of sanctions.

Other persons, including judges, could be unilaterally designated by the US administration at any time, consecutively and in an escalating manner or at once.

I come today before you because the court needs the support of the European Union to survive in the next few years.

Established in 2002, the ICC was created to prosecute war criminals and individuals for international crimes involving genocide and crimes against humanity.

Despite its jurisdiction across more than a hundred nations, the US is not a member state of the international court.