US sanctions International Criminal Court hours after Navi Pillay wins Nobel Peace Prize

Sanctions on the court

The Trump administration imposed sanctions on the International Criminal Court on Friday, hours after former ICC judge Navi Pillay won the Nobel Peace Prize. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement that the United States would ban transactions with the court and cut off its resources.

President Trump will never allow the International Criminal Court to prosecute Americans.

The measures go further than earlier US penalties, which targeted the court's prosecutors and judges, because they could punish companies that provide services to the institution itself. US sanctions generally bar American companies from working with a designated organisation, which can force banks to close accounts, insurers to end coverage and software firms to stop cooperating.

Dispute with Washington

Washington has long been angry over ICC arrest warrants issued for Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and over an investigation into actions of US soldiers in Afghanistan, which the court has since closed. The Trump administration sanctioned the court's prosecutors and judges during its first term, and those measures were lifted under President Joe Biden. After Trump returned to office in January 2025, further sanctions were announced immediately.

The court, founded in 2002 to prosecute war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide, counts 125 member states, including all EU countries and all NATO members except the United States and Turkey. It is based in The Hague in the Netherlands. Its officials had spent months preparing for possible sanctions against the institution itself. Office computers were switched from Microsoft software to open-source alternatives, and new arrangements were made for banking and health insurance.

The Nobel Peace Prize

The Nobel committee awarded the prize on Friday to Navi Pillay, a South African jurist, for her work in international criminal justice. She served as a judge on the ICC's Appeals Chamber from 2003 to 2008 and previously held the post of UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. In its citation, the committee said it had sought to "issue a reminder" at a time when "judges and institutions of international law are under political attack". The committee stated that a legal system in which war criminals are held to account and victims see justice served "is a precondition for a peaceful world".

Reactions

Trump indirectly commented on the award by reposting a Truth Social message from a user named Schoenlaw. That message called the award a disgrace, described Pillay as an enemy of the United States and Israel, and argued that the prize should have gone to Trump, citing the Abraham Accords and the return of hostages.

Deputy Prosecutor Nazhat Shameem Khan condemned the sanctions and said they would not halt the tribunal's work. She told Reuters the sanctions "must be condemned" and said they were intended to undermine the rule of law internationally.

Our work will continue across all our situations, our investigations and our prosecutions.