Three ICC judges sue Trump adminsitration over "draconian" sanctions

Three judges of the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague have sued the United States administration of Donald Trump. They demand the lifting of financial and travel-related sanctions Washington imposed on them and other ICC staff, calling the sanctions “draconian” and purely intended to pressure the Court, BNR reported.

The judges from Canada, Uganda, and Benin filed their complaint in the federal court in Manhattan, New York. They regard the sanctions that the U.S. government imposed after the ICC opened several investigations into war crimes by American soldiers in Afghanistan and by Israelis in the Palestinian territories. As part of the latter investigation, the ICC also issued an international arrest warrant against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The ICC can prosecute people for violations of international law. The U.S. does not recognize the ICC. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio previously said that the Court has no jurisdiction over citizens of the U.S. or its allies.

The Trump administration justified the sanctions by labeling the investigations a “threat to national security” and a “state of emergency.” In the lawsuit, the judges challenge that, arguing that the ICC investigations caused no emergency and calling the Trump administration’s policy “arbitrary” and “draconian.”

The Beninese judge said that the sanctions are intended purely as an unlawful punitive measure to pressure the ICC in the exercise of its judicial duties. One of the judges’ lawyers called the sanctions an unprecedented attack on the independence of the judiciary and the rule of law.

This is the first time that sitting ICC judges have gone to a U.S. court to challenge sanctions.