The International Criminal Court (ICC) issued a firm response to the United States on Friday, October 9, 2026, rejecting broad economic sanctions levied against the tribunal by the Trump administration. The court characterized the measures as a “flagrant attack” on judicial independence, aimed at intimidating its personnel and crippling its global operations.
The confrontation escalated early Friday morning in Washington, D.C., when U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced comprehensive financial measures targeting the institution.
Speaking from the U.S. Department of State, Rubio labeled the tribunal a “rogue court” and confirmed a 180-day ban on all U.S. financial transactions with the ICC to “cut off its resources and cripple its ability to operate.”
”America never joined the court. We don’t need it, and we don’t want it,” Rubio stated. “Either the ICC will end its threats, or we will end the ICC.”
Hours later, from the tribunal’s headquarters in The Hague, ICC President Tomoko Akane released an official statement condemning the action as “an assault on the rule of law and on the very foundations of the international legal order.”
Despite the severe operational hurdles posed by the U.S. transaction bans, Akane affirmed that the tribunal would not back down.
”The court will continue to fully discharge its mandate, with independence and impartiality, acting only on the basis of the law and the evidence for the sake of the countless victims of grave crimes,” President Akane stated.
The official ICC response emphasized that the court’s survival and effectiveness now rest with its 125 member states, urging them to stand firm against external political pressure.
Addressing the international community, the statement concluded: “Future generations, and above all the victims of mass atrocities, will ask how we responded when an institution created to protect them came under attack. History will judge this moment.”
The U.S. sanctions sparked swift international criticism. Speaking during a press briefing at the United Nations headquarters in New York, Stéphane Dujarric, spokesperson for UN Secretary-General António Guterres, stated that the UN chief was “deeply alarmed” by Washington’s measures.
Dujarric reiterated Guterres’s “unwavering support for the independence of the court” and described the U.S. action as a “serious blow to our collective pursuit of international criminal justice.”
