The United States imposed sanctions on International Criminal Court president Tomoko Akane and senior trial lawyer Abdoulaye Seye, extending a campaign against officials at the Hague-based institution. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Akane, a Japanese judge, and Seye, of Senegal, had participated in attempts to investigate, detain or prosecute officials from governments that had not accepted ICC jurisdiction.
The measures prevent the two officials from entering the United States and conducting transactions through the US financial system. Washington had previously sanctioned other court personnel. The United States signed but did not ratify the Rome Statute, the treaty that created the ICC, and is not a member of the court.
The ICC said the restrictions undermined the rule of law and warned that threatening judicial officials for applying the law endangered the international legal system. The court was established in 2002 to prosecute individuals accused of the gravest international crimes when national systems cannot provide adequate accountability.
US pressure has been driven largely by the court’s investigations concerning Israel, a close American ally. In 2024, the ICC issued an arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over the war in Gaza. Israel is not an ICC member. Russia, which also lies outside the court, issued warrants for senior ICC officials after the court sought Russian President Vladimir Putin’s arrest in 2023 over the war in Ukraine.
Rubio accused the institution of abusing its powers and intruding on national sovereignty. The previous month, Washington had urged international partners to leave the ICC, describing the body as a threat to Americans. Chad and Venezuela had already announced withdrawals, the latter after aligning with the United States following the capture and removal of Nicolás Maduro. The ICC said departures weakened collective efforts to pursue justice.
Four human-rights organisations challenged President Donald Trump’s sanctions policy in a New York court one week before the latest designations. They argued that restrictions targeting the ICC obstruct victims of war crimes seeking legal redress. The published account did not provide the status of that lawsuit.
The sanctions intensified two linked disputes: whether the court may act in cases involving nationals of non-member states, and whether a state may use financial and immigration controls against international judicial personnel. Washington characterised its action as a defence of sovereignty; the ICC characterised it as pressure on independent legal work. No change to the underlying investigations was announced with the sanctions. The designations named two individuals and did not dissolve the court, alter its treaty or establish that either official had committed a crime. Their practical effect was confined to US entry and financial access as described by the published account.
