MANILA, Philippines — The United States urged its allies to rally behind its move to impose sanctions on the International Criminal Court (ICC) for what it deemed were “illegitimate actions” against sovereign states.
The US, through its Secretary of State Marco Rubio, issued the statement as it imposed sanctions on two of the four ICC judges who took part in proceedings that led to an arrest warrant issued in November against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel, a key US ally.
“The United States will take whatever actions we deem necessary to protect our sovereignty, that of Israel, and any other US ally from illegitimate actions by the ICC,” Rubio said.
Sanctioned were Judges Beti Hohler of Slovenia and Reine Alapini-Gansou of Benin who have been barred from entering the US and their properties and interests within the country blocked — measures more often taken against policymakers from US adversaries than against judicial officials.
Alapini-Gansou is one of judges in the impending trial of former president Rodrigo Duterte whose legal team has sought her disqualification.
The two other judges, Luz del Carmen Ibanez Carranza of Peru and Solomy Balungi Bossa of Uganda, were part of the court proceedings that led to the authorization of an investigation into allegations that US forces committed war crimes during the war in Afghanistan.
In his statement, Rubio called on nations still aligned with the ICC to resist what he described as a “disgraceful attack” on the US and its allies.
The US, Israel, and the Philippines are not parties to the Rome Statute, which established the International Criminal Court (ICC).
However, nearly all Western allies of the United States, along with Japan and South Korea, as well as the vast majority of Latin American countries and much of Africa, are parties to the statute. In theory, these countries must arrest suspects when they enter their territory.
