The United States Department of the Treasury announced sanctions against the International Criminal Court (ICC) as an institution this Friday. The measure came just hours after South African Navanethem "Navi" Pillay, a former judge at the Court, was announced as the winner of the 2026 Nobel Peace Prize.
According to La Tercera, the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), the Treasury agency that administers economic sanctions, made the decision without providing further details. The ICC, based in The Hague, in the Netherlands, tries people accused of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity.
The sanctions come with four exemptions. The Treasury will allow, until April 7, 2027, the transactions necessary for the Court to continue operating: contributions from states parties, salaries, health insurance, rent, taxes, pensions, telecommunications and software services, and care for people detained in its custody.
The Department of State called this period a "maintenance period." Its aim is for the 125 states parties to the Rome Statute, the treaty that established the ICC, to show progress toward diplomatic and legal solutions that address Washington's concerns. If that does not happen, the United States warned that it will take additional measures.
Until now, Washington had sanctioned individuals. There are now 17 people under sanctions, including judges, prosecutors and the Court's president, Tomoko Akane, who was sanctioned in August. The United States imposed those measures in retaliation for the ICC's investigation into Israel over war crimes in the Gaza Strip.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio defended the decision. "The United States never joined the Court. We don't need it. And we don't want it. President Trump will never allow the ICC to prosecute Americans," he said. He added that Washington remains hopeful of a diplomatic solution, but threatened to dismantle the Court "brick by brick."
Rubio also pressured his country's allies. He asked states that belong to the ICC and "depend on the U.S. military for their defense" to rein in the Court.
The ICC responded forcefully. It called the measure "unprecedented" because it affects the entire institution, and described it as "an attempt to obstruct the course of justice" and "an attack on the rule of law." It said it would not be intimidated and would continue to act independently. "History will judge this moment," it said in a statement.
The coincidence with the Nobel Prize did not go unnoticed. Pillay, who served as a judge at the Court, received the world's foremost recognition for peace on the same day that the Court came under sanctions from the world's greatest military power. The sources do not report a reaction from the laureate.
For Latin America, the dispute directly affects the region. Chile ratified the Rome Statute in 2009, as did most South American countries, and is among the states parties from which Washington is demanding a solution. That group has until April 7, 2027 to respond before the Treasury exemptions expire.