Confrontation with The Hague escalates: US imposes sanctions on ICC President
The Trump administration has imposed sanctions against the President of the International Criminal Court, Tomoko Akane, escalating the confrontation with the institution. The move includes asset freezes and financial restrictions against the backdrop of arrest warrants for Benjamin Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant, as well as investigations into the US military.
The United States imposed sanctions on Tuesday against Tomoko Akane, the Japanese judge serving as President of the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague, as part of the Trump administration's intensified campaign against the institution.
Akane's name was added to the US Treasury Department's sanctions list. The move includes freezing assets she may hold in the United States and practical restrictions on her access to the American financial system. The Treasury Department simultaneously published a license allowing the completion of existing transactions related to her until September 17.
This step is the latest escalation in the confrontation between Washington and the court in The Hague. Over the past year, the Trump administration has imposed sanctions on senior judges and prosecutors at the ICC following the issuance of arrest warrants against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, as well as due to a past investigation by the court regarding suspicions of war crimes committed by American forces in Afghanistan. The United States and Israel are not members of the court and do not recognize its authority over their citizens.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio stated last month that the administration intends to increase pressure on the court and promote a diplomatic move to convince additional countries to withdraw from it.
According to the administration, the ICC is exceeding its authority and threatening the sovereignty of the United States. Three judges at the court have already filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration in a US federal court, claiming that the sanctions are illegal and intended to exert personal pressure on judges due to their professional decisions.
Akane, 70, was elected President of the court in March 2024 and has served as a judge there since 2018. Before joining the ICC, she was a senior prosecutor in Japan, held various positions in the Japanese Ministry of Justice, and dealt with international legal cooperation. She was among the judges involved in the court's proceedings surrounding the war in Ukraine, and after the issuance of the arrest warrant against Russian President Vladimir Putin in March 2023, Moscow opened criminal proceedings against senior court officials and subsequently issued an arrest warrant against Akane herself.
The current confrontation with Washington is not the first time she has faced pressure from a superpower. In December 2024, Akane warned that threats, coercive measures, and economic sanctions against the court could damage its ability to operate. Since then, American sanctions against senior officials of the institution have caused real difficulties in using banking services, credit cards, and online platforms.
The International Criminal Court was established in 2002 under the Rome Statute and is authorized to judge individuals for genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes. Trump has clashed with the institution in the past: in 2020, during his first term, sanctions were imposed on then-Chief Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda due to the Afghanistan investigation.
The Biden administration canceled them in 2021, but Trump renewed and expanded the tough line after his return to the White House. Today, 125 countries are members, but the court has no police force of its own and depends on member states for the execution of arrest warrants.
The International Criminal Court in The Hague stated that "measures aimed at judges, prosecutors, and staff working to fulfill the mandate of the ICC by states undermine the rule of law." The court added that it "remains undeterred and stands firmly behind its personnel."
