The United States imposed sanctions Tuesday on Tomoko Akane, the Japanese judge serving as president of the International Criminal Court, and Judge Abdoulaye Seye, who led an investigation into activities in Judea and Samaria, according to the U.S. Treasury Department. The United States, which is not a member of the ICC, is continuing its campaign against the international court.
1+Last year, the United States imposed targeted sanctions on several senior ICC officials, including prosecutors and judges, citing the court’s arrest warrants against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, as well as its previous investigation into American forces in Afghanistan.
The sanctions freeze any U.S.-based assets held by the designated individuals and effectively cut them off from the American financial system, with which virtually all major international banks maintain extensive ties. The Treasury Department also issued a general license permitting the wind-down and termination of transactions involving Akane through September 17.
1+Secretary of State Marco Rubio said last month that the Trump administration would intensify efforts against the ICC, including through a diplomatic campaign aimed at persuading other countries to withdraw from the institution. Rubio argued that the court poses a threat to American personnel implementing Trump’s immigration policies or carrying out strikes against boats suspected of drug trafficking, as well as to other members of the U.S. military.