US imposes sweeping sanctions on the International Criminal Court

On October 10, 2026, the US Treasury added the International Criminal Court as an institution to its sanctions list, with Secretary of State Marco Rubio pledging to dismantle the world's only permanent war crimes tribunal. The sanctions cut the Hague-based court off from US dollars, US financial services and US technology providers, giving American companies six months to end their ties. The measure escalates earlier individual sanctions against 13 ICC judges and prosecutors. Washington cited the ICC's open investigation into alleged abuses in Afghanistan that could touch US military and intelligence personnel, as well as arrest warrants issued against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former defense minister Yoav Gallant over the war in Gaza. The ICC denounced the move as an 'assault on the rule of law and on the very foundations of the international legal order,' while UN Secretary-General António Guterres called the step a 'serious blow' to international justice. The announcement came only hours after South African jurist and former ICC judge Navi Pillay was awarded the 2026 Nobel Peace Prize, which US officials sharply criticized.