US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has vowed to ‘dismantle’ the International Criminal Court and called on other countries to join Washington in this effort.
Rubio accused the ICC of waging war against the US “not with bullets or missiles”, but through the force of “so-called international law”.
The US State Department clarified that “a comprehensive campaign to eliminate the threat that the ICC poses to US sovereignty” would include a nationwide response aimed at systematically depriving the ICC of the ability “to operate, prosecute US military personnel or officials, or otherwise threaten US sovereignty”.
According to the State Department, the campaign will involve calling on a number of foreign states to withdraw from the ICC, tighter scrutiny of countries that refuse to reject the “ICSC’s false claims of authority” whilst relying on US assistance, the revocation of visas and travel bans for ICSC personnel, and the tightening of sanctions against the ICSC and its affiliated organisations.
The ICC has not yet commented on this statement by the US State Department.
Last August, the Trump administration imposed sanctions on the ICC and lifted restrictions on arms supplies to Israel.
This is the second time the International Criminal Court has faced retaliatory measures from the US. During the first Trump administration in 2020, Washington imposed sanctions on ICC Chief Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda and Director of the Jurisdiction Division Fakiso Benchochoho in connection with the investigation into alleged war crimes committed by the US in Afghanistan.
The US and Israel are not parties to the Rome Statute, under which the ICC was established in 2002.