US sanctions International Criminal Court president Tomoko Akane and prosecutor Abdoulaye Seye

Financial penalties against court leadership

The United States Department of the Treasury placed International Criminal Court President Tomoko Akane and senior trial lawyer Abdoulaye Seye under targeted sanctions on 18 August 2026. Akane, a Japanese judge who heads the institution, and Seye, a Senegalese prosecutor at the court, face asset freezes across all property under American legal jurisdiction. The measures isolate both individuals from the United States financial network, restricting access to international banking infrastructure that relies on dollar clearance. The Office of Foreign Assets Control also prohibited transactions with any commercial entity in which either official holds an ownership interest. Alongside the sanctions announcement, the Treasury Department issued a general license permitting the wind-down of existing transactions involving Akane through 17 September 2026.

Administration arguments and diplomatic campaign

The sanctions rely on an executive order signed by President Donald Trump in 2025 to punish foreign officials who pursue cases against American personnel or allied states. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio defended the designation on social media, describing the court as an illegitimate body and stating that the administration remains committed to shielding Americans from its reach.

These individuals have directly engaged in efforts by the ICC to investigate, arrest, detain, or prosecute officials whose government has not consented to ICC jurisdiction.

Rubio argued that the institution threatens American service members carrying out military operations, border enforcement tasks, and maritime drug interdiction strikes. In July 2026, Rubio announced an expanded diplomatic effort to convince member countries to leave the institution, telling The Wall Street Journal that Washington would dismantle the court piece by piece if necessary.

Background on jurisdictional disputes and warrants

Established in 2002 and based in The Hague, the court counts 125 member countries, including all European Union member states. The United States, Israel, China, Russia, and Turkey have never joined the body, though the court claims jurisdiction over non-member citizens who commit atrocities inside the territory of a member state. Tensions escalated sharply following the court's 2024 decision to issue arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant over the armed conflict in Gaza, a prosecution team that included Seye. The dispute built on earlier friction from 2016, when the court examined potential war crimes by United States soldiers, the CIA, and the Taliban in Afghanistan before dropping the inquiry in 2019 due to lack of cooperation. In 2025, the Trump administration sanctioned Chief Prosecutor Karim Khan, freezing his domestic assets and revoking access to his email services.

Legal challenges and response from The Hague

The International Criminal Court issued a statement condemning the sanctions, maintaining that coercive measures against judicial personnel undermine the independence of the global legal system.

When judicial actors are threatened for applying the law, what is put at risk is the international legal order itself.

The court stated that it stands firmly behind its judges and staff, emphasizing that outside executive actions will not deter its ongoing investigations. The newly announced penalties also follow internal pushback from within the court system, after three sitting judges filed a lawsuit against Trump and his administration in June 2026, arguing that unilateral US sanctions against international jurists violate the law.