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US imposes sanctions on International Criminal Court chief prosecutor, aide
- Human rights groups and others have condemned the Trump administration’s moves against the court
- US secretary of state earlier imposed travel bans on tribunal employees over an investigation into allegations of torture by Americans in Afghanistan
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US President Donald Trump’s administration on Wednesday imposed sanctions on the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court and one of her top aides for continuing to investigate war crimes allegations against Americans.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced the moves as part of the administration’s retaliation against the tribunal, based in The Hague, for investigations into the United States and its allies. The sanctions include a freeze on assets held in the US or subject to US law and target prosecutor Fatou Bensouda and the court’s head of jurisdiction, Phakiso Mochochoko.
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Pompeo had previously imposed a travel ban on Bensouda and other tribunal employees because of its investigation into allegations of torture and other crimes by Americans in Afghanistan.
Human rights groups and others have condemned the administration’s moves against the court and Wednesday’s announcement was immediately met with withering criticism from them.
The Trump administration has twisted these sanctions to obstruct justice
Richard Dicker, the international justice director at Human Rights Watch, called it “a stunning perversion of US sanctions, devised to penalise rights abusers and kleptocrats, to persecute those tasked with prosecuting international crimes.”
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