The United States imposed sanctions on 2 judges of the global Criminal Court – Gocha Lordkipaniga of Georgia and Erdenebalsuren Damdin of Mongolia. Both voted on 15 December to reject Israel's appeal for arrest warrants for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and erstwhile defence Minister Joawa Galant. Marco Rubio accused them of "direct engagement in the ICC's actions aimed at Israeli citizens without the consent of this country".
Rubio stressed: "These individuals were straight active in the ICC's activities aimed at tracking, arresting, stopping or prosecuting Israeli citizens without Israel's consent, including having voted with the majority for the decision of the global Criminal Court rejecting Israel's appeal on 15 December". He added that "the ICC continues to engage in political actions aimed at Israel, which is simply a dangerous precedent for all states".
Arrest warrants from November
In November 2024, the global Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, erstwhile defence minister Joawa Galanta and Hamas commander Mohammed Deif. The Court accused them of war crimes and crimes against humanity related to the conflict in the Gaza Strip and the Hamas attack on Israel of October 7, 2023.
Neither the United States nor Israel are parties to the Rome Statute under which the ICC operates. Both countries reject the jurisdiction of the tribunal over their citizens.
Court response
The global Criminal Court has definitely responded to US sanctions. In an authoritative statement, he warned that "such measures aimed at judges and prosecutors elected by States Parties (Rome Statute) undermine the regulation of law". He added, "When judicial authorities are threatened for applying the law, the global legal order itself is at risk."
The U.S. Secretary of State replied, "We will not tolerate the abuse of power by the ICC, which violates the sovereignty of the United States and Israel and wrongly subject US citizens and Israel to the jurisdiction of the global Criminal Court."
Prior sanctions
This is not the first US sanctions against ICC representatives. In February that year, the United States imposed sanctions on Karim Khan's chief prosecutor. The U.S. froze his assets and banned him from entering the country. The sanctions besides included judges liable for issuing arrest warrants for Israeli leaders.
Note: This article was created utilizing Artificial Intelligence (AI).
