US threatens new sanctions against ICC to shield Trump from future prosecution

The US government has threatened to impose sanctions on the Afghanistan (ICC) in The Hague if it fails to amend its laws to ensure it never prosecutes President Donald Trump.

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Reuters reports that the Donald Trump administration wants the ICC to amend the Rome Statute, its founding document, to stop the court from investigating the president and his top officials at the end of his administration.

The administration is also demanding that the ICC stop investigating Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other Israeli leaders over the Gaza war.

The administration also wants the court to stop the probe into the actions of American troops in Afghanistan.

These demands are made with the goal of protecting the governments of both countries from being investigated for war crimes, including war crimes in Gaza.

PREMIUM TIMES reports that the Rome Statute, which the US seeks to amend, is the founding treaty of the ICC, adopted in 1998 and coming into force in 2002.

The founding document describes the four core international crimes as genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, and the crime of aggression.

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Reuters reported on Thursday that an official who spoke anonymously disclosed that the Trump administration is threatening to sanction more ICC officials and would also sanction the court itself if its demands are not met.

Mr Trump had earlier taken action against the court by restricting the financial and visa rights of its staff after accusing it of illegally targeting the US and Israel. This was three months after ICC issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and a senior Hamas commander for alleged war crimes in Gaza.

The court also began to probe US military crimes in Afghanistan in 2020.

The US now threatens to expand this penalty to include other staff of the ICC, alongside the court as an entity.

Reuters report states that the US has notified the ICC members of its demand.

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The US is not a party to the Rome Statute, which includes most EU countries. Still, the government official who spoke to Reuters said the Trump administration is concerned the US will turn its attention on Mr Trump and Vice President JD Vance at the end of their tenure.

“There is growing concern … that in 2029 the ICC will turn its attention to the president, to the vice president, to the secretary of war and others, and pursue prosecutions against them. That is unacceptable, and we will not allow it to happen,” the US official was quoted as saying.

They, however, did not identify the issues which the administration fears could become the subject of investigation.

“The solution is that they need to change the Rome Statute to make very clear that they don’t have jurisdiction,” the official said

US sanctions on the ICC are likely to affect the court’s daily operations significantly, but amending the treaty to meet the demands would be a challenging endeavour.

This would require the approval of two-thirds of the countries that have ratified the Rome Statute.

The ICC’s public affairs unit told Reuters that “Amendments to the Rome Statute are within the prerogative of States Parties.”