War crimes prosecutor first target of Trump’s International Criminal Court sanctions, sources say
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ICC prosecutor Karim Khan, who is British, was named on Feb 7 in an annex – not yet made public – to a Trump executive order.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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HAGUE – International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutor Karim Khan is the first person to be hit with economic and travel sanctions authorised by US President Donald Trump that target the war crimes tribunal over investigations of US citizens or US allies, two sources briefed on the matter told Reuters on Feb 7.
Mr Khan, who is British, was named on Feb 7 in an annex – not yet made public – to an executive order signed by Mr Trump
The sanctions include freezing of US assets of those designated, and barring them and their families from visiting the US.
The order directed US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, in consultation with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, to submit a report within 60 days, naming people who should be sanctioned.
The ICC on Feb 7 condemned the sanctions, pledging to stand by its staff and “continue providing justice and hope to millions of innocent victims of atrocities across the world, in all situations before it”. Court officials met in The Hague on Feb 7 to discuss the implications of the sanctions.
The ICC, which opened in 2002, has international jurisdiction to prosecute genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes in member states or if a situation is referred by the UN Security Council.
Dozens of countries warned on Feb 7 that the US sanctions could “increase the risk of impunity for the most serious crimes and threaten to erode the international rule of law”.
“Sanctions would severely undermine all situations currently under investigation as the court may have to close its field offices,” the 79 countries – which make up about two-thirds of the court’s members – said in a statement.
Under an agreement between the UN and Washington, Mr Khan should be able to travel regularly to New York to brief the UN Security Council on cases it had referred to the court in The Hague. The Security Council has referred the situations in Libya and Sudan’s Darfur region to the ICC.
“We trust that any restrictions taken against individuals would be implemented consistently with the host country’s obligations under the UN Headquarters agreement,” deputy UN spokesman Farhan Haq said on Feb 7.
Mr Khan was most recently in New York last week to brief the Security Council on Sudan.
“International criminal law is an essential element to fighting impunity, which is unfortunately widespread,” Mr Haq said. “The International Criminal Court is its essential element, and it must be allowed to work in full independence.”
Mr Trump’s move on Feb 6 – repeating action he took during his first term – coincided with a visit to Washington by Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who – along with his former defence minister and a leader of Palestinian militant group Hamas – is wanted by the ICC over the war in Gaza.
During a visit to the US Congress on Feb 7, Mr Netanyahu praised Mr Trump’s move, describing the court as a “scandalous” organisation “that threatens the right of all democracies to defend themselves”. REUTERS
