U.S. Sanctions the International Criminal Court Itself, With Six-Month Grace Period
The Trump administration on October 9 imposed sanctions on the International Criminal Court (ICC) itself, the first time the United States has targeted the institution as a whole rather than individual judges and prosecutors. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the United States will ban transactions with the court and cut off its resources. The Treasury Department announced the sanctions with a six-month initial grace period and four general licenses allowing certain transactions involving telecommunications, software, pension payments and detainees. Rubio said the measures are structured to give the court and its member states an opportunity to address U.S. concerns, and would be adjusted if those demands are not met. The announcement came hours after former ICC judge Navi Pillay won the Nobel Peace Prize, as reported by GSM earlier today. The ICC denounced the sanctions as an assault on the rule of law and called on its 125 member states to defend it; Deputy Prosecutor Nazhat Shameem Khan said the court's investigations and prosecutions will continue. Founded in 2002 and based in The Hague, the ICC prosecutes war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide. The United States has never joined the court and has clashed with it over arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and a past investigation into U.S. forces in Afghanistan. (Sources: Reuters; U.S. Department of State; U.S. Department of the Treasury)
Source: Reuters、美国国务院
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：国际刑事法院总部大楼（荷兰海牙）。摄影：OSeveno，CC BY-SA 3.0，来源：Wikimedia Commons
