{"id":69194,"date":"2020-06-12T11:12:13","date_gmt":"2020-06-12T11:12:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/uncategorized\/2020\/06\/12\/international-criminal-court-seeking-to-investigate-us-troops-for-war-crimes-condemns-trumps-sanctions-order\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T14:29:12","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T14:29:12","slug":"international-criminal-court-seeking-to-investigate-us-troops-for-war-crimes-condemns-trumps-sanctions-order","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/flashpoints\/2020\/06\/12\/international-criminal-court-seeking-to-investigate-us-troops-for-war-crimes-condemns-trumps-sanctions-order\/","title":{"rendered":"International Criminal Court, seeking to investigate US troops for war crimes, condemns Trump\u2019s sanctions order"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) \u2014 The International Criminal Court<\/a> has condemned the Trump administration\u2019s decision to authorize sanctions against court staff, saying it amounted to \u201can unacceptable attempt to interfere with the rule of law and the Court\u2019s judicial proceedings.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

An executive order by U.S. President Donald Trump announced Thursday authorizes sanctions against ICC staff investigating American troops<\/a> and intelligence officials and those of allied nations, including Israel, for possible war crimes in Afghanistan and elsewhere.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Trump\u2019s order would block the financial assets of court employees and bar them and their immediate relatives from entering the United States.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The court, which has 123 member states, said in a statement released early Friday that it \u201cstands firmly by its staff and officials and remains unwavering in its commitment to discharging, independently and impartially, the mandate\u201d laid down in its founding treaty, the Rome Statute.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It said an attack on the Hague-based court also constitutes \u201can attack against the interests of victims of atrocity crimes, for many of whom the Court represents the last hope for justice.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

O-Gon Kwon, president of the court\u2019s management and oversight mechanism, the Assembly of States Parties, also criticized the U.S. measures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThey undermine our common endeavor to fight impunity and to ensure accountability for mass atrocities,\u201d he said in a statement. \u201cI deeply regret measures targeting Court officials, staff and their families.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Hague-based court was created in 2002 to prosecute war crimes and crimes of humanity and genocide in places where perpetrators might not otherwise face justice. The U.S. has never been an ICC member.<\/p>\n\n\n\t