UN Commissioner: New US sanctions on the ICC are 'unacceptable'
Volker Türk described the new US sanctions on the International Criminal Court as unacceptable and called for protecting its independence.
Translated by Qiyas from كونا — Original source
Geneva, Oct 9 (KUNA) -- UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk on Friday described the new U.S. sanctions imposed on the International Criminal Court (ICC) as “unacceptable,” calling for urgent measures to protect the court and its cooperating partners.
In a statement issued from Geneva, Türk said, “The U.S. sanctions represent a new round of retaliatory measures against the Court and its staff in response to their daily work to promote accountability for the most serious human rights violations.”
He warned that these sanctions could “deter Court staff and cooperating partners from continuing their efforts to achieve justice,” urging that the sanctions not be allowed to affect the Court’s independence and its ability to carry out its mandate.
The UN official also urged states parties to the Rome Statute of the ICC to take “urgent” steps to defend the Court’s work and ensure its continued ability to perform its functions, emphasizing that these states bear a special responsibility to protect the institution they helped establish.
Earlier on Friday, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced that the United States intends to impose broad sanctions on the ICC, which would include prohibiting financial transactions with the Court, cutting off its resources, and paralyzing its operations. He noted, however, that these measures are designed to be reversible in the event of a diplomatic resolution addressing Washington’s concerns.
The latest U.S. announcement follows a series of sanctions imposed since February 2025, which targeted half of the Court’s 18 judges, the former Prosecutor, the Deputy Prosecutors, and one senior Court official.
Türk had previously stressed that “imposing sanctions on judges and prosecutors for carrying out their duties constitutes an attack on the rule of law and undermines justice.” He also expressed his condemnation of previous in absentia conviction sentences issued in the Russian Federation against the ICC’s then-Prosecutor and eight of its judges, which imposed prison terms of up to 15 years. He called for the lifting of all sanctions imposed on the Court and its staff. (End) A.M.Kh./M.A.A.
