ICC President Warns US Sanctions Could Threaten International Rule of Law

International Criminal Court President Tomoko Akane has warned against what she described as the potential “demise of international rule of law” after being targeted by US sanctions. In a statement released Friday by her publisher, Bungei Shunju, Akane said she had anticipated the sanctions to some extent and was therefore not surprised, stressing that the key concern was preventing the measure from becoming the beginning of a broader erosion of international legal principles.

The sanctions come amid an escalating US campaign against the ICC. In July, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio accused the court of being a “corrupt and fatally politicized supranational court” that had abused its authority, while calling on the ICC’s 125 member states to withdraw. Rubio also declared Washington’s intention to dismantle the institution “brick by brick.”

The US State Department said the unprecedented measures were intended to “systematically disable the ICC’s ability to operate.” A US official said Washington would closely monitor which countries responded to Rubio’s call to leave the court and which chose to remain members, further intensifying pressure on the international judicial body.