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Donald Trump has placed sanctions to international officials of the criminal court investigating the United States and his allies, such as Israel, reintroducing a policy of his first mandate.
In an executive order signed on Thursday, the president of the United States made financial sanctions and blocked visas for CPI employees and their families, to a extent that coincided with the visit of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Washington. The order also applies to officials investigating US citizens.
The White House did not immediately appoint the officials who have been sanctioned.
The order says that the Court is a threat to the “sovereignty” of the United States that “undermines the critical work of national security and foreign political” of the country and allies as Israel.
The CPI personnel who are “responsible” for the “transgressions” of the court could freeze their assets and they and their families could be blocked to enter the United States.
In November, the ICC issued arrest orders for Netanyahu and its Defense Minister Yoav Gallant “for crimes against humanity and war crimes.”
The measure marked a dramatic escalation of the legal procedures on Israel’s offensive in Gaza, which has killed some 47,000 people, according to Palestinian officials, and marked the first time that the ICC issued an order for a leader backed by the west.
The court also issued an order for the then leader of Hamas Mohammed Deif for crimes against humanity and war crimes about the group’s attack on October 7, 2023 against Israel who triggered the conflict in Gaza.
The White House said that “when issuing arrest orders for Israeli officials and Hamas officials at the same time, the ICC created a shameful moral equivalence.”
Trump’s executive order said the “recent actions of the ICC against Israel and the United States establish a dangerous precedent”, and that Washington “opposes unequivocally and hopes that our allies oppose any action of the ICC” against the United States or Israel.
Neither the United States nor Israel are members of the Court, nor recognize their authority.
The ICC did not immediately respond to a request for comments.
Arrest orders for Israeli officials forced the Member States of the ICC, which include most European and Latin American countries, as well as some in Asia and Africa, to arrest Netanyahu and Gallant if they crossed their borders, although the court It has no application mechanism.
Joe Biden’s White House condemned arrest orders when they were issued. France, a member of the CPI and ally of the United States, in November said that Netanyahu can have immunity for the arrest because Israel was not a signatory to the Rome Statute, which the Court established.
The Independent Court has its headquarters in the Netherlands and was established in 2002 to process genocide perpetrators, crimes against humanity and war crimes.
Trump also took measures against CPI officials in 2020, authorizing an asset freezing and blocking their family members to enter the United States after the court began investigating the alleged actions of the United States in Afghanistan.
