Australia and others back ICC staff as Trump sanctions intensify

Australia and other countries are providing support to International Criminal Court staff as the Trump administration steps up sanctions against the tribunal, a senior court official has said. ICC deputy prosecutor Nazhat Shameem Khan said the help has come both publicly and through quiet diplomacy behind closed doors. She said the court is trying to shield staff from the financial impact of the measures while keeping its work going.

As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.

Ms Khan is visiting Canberra and Brisbane this week for talks with jurists and officials from Australia and the Pacific. She said the latest sanctions are designed to cut the court off from financial and support services, and that they have already created some difficulties. The new measures will freeze the ICC's assets in the United States and block financial transactions and IT agreements with US companies.

The deputy prosecutor said the court has been heartened by the response from a number of countries, including Australia. She described the support as extraordinary and said states should step up to defend multilateral institutions that are under pressure. The ICC is also adopting new systems to try to circumvent the sanctions and keep operating.

The sanctions are part of a broader campaign by Washington against the court, which has faced repeated criticism from senior US figures. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has called the ICC a rogue court and said it should be dismantled brick by brick. Donald Trump has also criticised the tribunal, and the latest measures mark another escalation in the dispute between the court and the US administration.

The ICC has long been a target of US hostility, but the current sanctions go further by targeting the institution itself rather than only individuals. That raises questions about how the court can maintain banking, technology and administrative links needed for day-to-day operations. It also highlights the dependence of international bodies on cross-border financial and digital services, even when they are based outside the United States.

Ms Khan, who has already been personally sanctioned by the US, said the court's priority is to continue serving victims who come before it. She said the institution is working hard to insulate staff and preserve its functions despite the pressure. What remains unclear is how far the sanctions will affect the court's longer-term operations and whether more states will publicly join the support effort in the coming days.

#InternationalCriminalCourt #Australia #sanctions #MarcoRubio #NazhatShameemKhan