Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Monday that the United States plans to “systematically disable” the International Criminal Court, an overt attack on a body that investigates some of the gravest crimes in the world.
Officially established in 2002 and based in The Hague, the court has a mission to investigate and prosecute genocide, war crimes and other serious offenses. The United States never signed the main treaty establishing the institution, and Mr. Rubio raised the possibility that the court could prosecute Americans as reason to dismantle it.
Such actions would “mean the death of the U.S. as a sovereign and independent nation,” Mr. Rubio wrote in an opinion piece published in The Wall Street Journal.
“Using all the tools at our government’s disposal, working beside every ally with whom we can make common cause, we will dismantle the I.C.C. — brick by brick, if necessary,” he wrote.
Although the State Department announced the campaign on Monday, Mr. Rubio made calls last week to top diplomats in other countries to try to make a case against the court, a U.S. official said.
The Trump administration has in the past pushed back on the court’s ability to look into the conduct of American soldiers in Afghanistan, and has also been highly critical of the court’s actions against Israel.
On Monday, the State Department warned that the I.C.C. was trying to become an “unaccountable global arbiter” that threatens Americans by investigating American servicemen and officials, for instance over their actions in foreign wars.
In practice, however, there is little prospect that the court could actually put Americans on trial. It has no police force of its own, and would be able to arrest and try U.S. citizens only if member states carry out arrests.
More than 100 countries have signed agreements with the U.S. promising not to surrender Americans to the court. The court’s rules also say any local investigation or prosecution, including in a U.S. court, would divest the court of jurisdiction over any alleged American crimes.
The Trump administration has been roundly critical of the I.C.C. and has sanctioned many of its judges, but the new announcement takes aim at the court more broadly.
To try to weaken the I.C.C., the State Department threatened to roll out more sanctions against court officials and vowed increased scrutiny of American allies who were “relying on U.S. assistance” if they “refuse to reject the I.C.C.’s false authority,” according to the State Department statement.
A spokeswoman for the I.C.C. declined to comment.
Some experts warned that the effort could have serious consequences, making it harder to prosecute serious global crimes. It could also drive a wedge between the United States and its allies in Europe and around the world who back the court.
“If the U.S. turns against the court in its entirety, it’s really distancing itself from principles that our most important allies hold dear,” said Alex Whiting, a Harvard law professor who previously worked as an I.C.C. prosecutor.
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