Permanent premises of the International Criminal Court in The Hague, the Netherlands.
(New York) – The Trump administration’s decision to sanction the International Criminal Court (ICC) is an unprecedented assault on global justice and the rule of law, Human Rights Watch said today. On October 9, 2026, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced the imposition of sanctions on the ICC.
“The Trump administration has made clear its aim to destroy the ICC to shield US and Israeli officials from facing charges before the court,” said Philippe Bolopion, executive director of Human Rights Watch. “By attacking the court, the US government is threatening justice for victims of abuses from Palestine to Ukraine, Myanmar, and Sudan.”
The ICC is a permanent international court created to try people, including senior officials, accused of war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide, and the crime of aggression. Following the genocides in the mid-1990s in Rwanda and in the former Yugoslavia, the international community created the ICC to prevent those most responsible for serious crimes from evading justice. Nearly two-thirds of UN member countries have joined the court. In addition to its Palestine investigation, the court has opened investigations into alleged crimes in 17 situations, including in Afghanistan, Darfur in Sudan, Bangladesh/Myanmar, Ukraine, and Venezuela.
The US government’s decision to sanction the ICC was announced on the same day that the Norwegian Nobel Committee announced the 2026 Nobel Peace Prize for Navi Pillay, a former ICC judge and renowned international lawyer, in recognition of her central role “in ensuring that war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide are prosecuted.”
In his October 9 announcement, Rubio stated the sanctions were aimed at shielding US nationals from investigation and prosecution at the ICC. The Trump administ
