US sanctions key ICC figures as Trump admin intensifies campaign against court

The Trump administration has been vocally opposed to the International Criminal Court and has been open about dismantling it, first established in 2002, has now taken a dramatic step.

According to the U.S. Treasury Department website, Washington has sanctioned Hague-based court president, Judge Tomoko Akane, and senior lawyer Abdoulaye Seye in response to their opening an investigation into U.S. and allied officials.

Marco Rubio, Secretary of State, accused the pair of engaging "in efforts by the ICC to investigate, arrest, detain, or prosecute officials whose government has not consented to ICC jurisdiction".

"[T]he International Criminal Court (ICC) is a corrupt and fatally politicized supranational court that has maliciously abused its authority and exceeded its mandate. We will not tolerate its assault on state sovereignty," he said.

Per Reuters, the Japanese justice's assets in the U.S. would be frozen, and any whatsoever links with the U.S. financial system, which has a global reach, would be cut off.

It is not the first time Washington - though not a member of the court - intensified its campaign against the ICC, whose mandate includes prosecuting war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity.

Previously, ICC judges as well as prosecutors faced sanctions by the U.S. over their arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and ex-Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and separate investigations over alleged war crimes by American troops in Afghanistan.

In response, three ICC judges recently took the Trump administration to a New York federal court, claiming the measures were unlawful.

Trump's administration, meanwhile, has made its latest decision against the ICC, underscoring Washington's aim to put the court in check.