Sources close to the matter disclosed on Friday that the International Criminal Court (ICC) is implementing major measures in order to secure its employees and activities against an impending US sanctions threat. Following the recent US House of Representatives vote which aims to sanction the court over its decision to issue arrest warrants for Israeli leaders, the ICC has allegedly been paying the salaries of its staff three months ahead of time, in anticipation of possible sanctions restrictions.
The US bill, targeting foreign individuals involved in prosecuting US citizens or their allies, would have devastating effects on the court. It would sanction any person who investigates, arrests, or prosecutes citizens from non-member countries like Israel, which is a primary target of the ICC’s investigation into war crimes in Gaza. The scope of these sanctions remains unclear, but the ICC is bracing for major financial setbacks, with one source revealing that steps have been taken to back up evidence due to concerns that Microsoft, which currently works with the court, may need to cease its collaboration.
Established to prosecute crimes of war, crimes against humanity, and genocide, the ICC is at high risk of operational paralysis as sanctions would be mandated on banks and financial institutions aligned with the United States, therefore severely limiting its ability to carry out its business. This has happened before. In 2020, sanctions were imposed on the ICC’s then-prosecutor Fatou Bensouda for probing alleged war crimes by US troops in Afghanistan by the Trump administration.
ICC President Tomoko Akane has warned that such sanctions could rapidly undermine the work of the court and threaten its very existence.
