The Trump administration imposed aggressive sanctions on the International Criminal Court Friday, just hours after a former judge on the court was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
While the Trump administration has repeatedly clashed with the ICC, which it deems corrupt and illegitimate, the move marks a significant escalation with the global justice body that investigates war crimes and other crimes against humanity.
The sanctions are intended to cut the court off from the global financial system and also threaten punishment against countries that continue to do business with the court.
The sanctions are “an assault on the rule of law” the court said in a statement, pledging that “no one should be punished for serving the cause of justice. History will judge this moment.”
Secretary of State Marco Rubio in a video posted to social media said the move was aimed at ending the court’s threats to U.S. sovereignty.
“We will ban transactions with this rogue court, cutting off their resources and crippling their ability to operate against us,” Rubio said. “Either the ICC will end its threats, or we will end the ICC,” he added.
The Trump administration has long accused the ICC of investigations that violate the state sovereignty of countries like Israel and the United States, who are not members of the court.
Under the new U.S. sanctions, the court can no longer use U.S.-based financial services, technology companies or conduct transactions in U.S. dollars. The sanctions were issued with a six-month grace period during which companies that have business with the court must cease operations.
“The designation is aimed at disrupting the Court’s operations and at intimidating those who work for or cooperate with the Court,” the ICC said in its statement Friday. “This is not just about defending a single institution, but about safeguarding the international order grounded upon the rule of law,” the court said.
The Trump administration’s announcement came just hours after a former ICC judge was announced as this year’s Nobel Peace Prize recipient.
South African jurist Navi Pillay was awarded the prize on Friday in recognition of her work in international law.
Pillay worked for years in international courts to deliver justice for atrocities such as the Rwanda genocide; she is currently a judge on the International Court of Justice in a case where the military-run government of Myanmar stands accused of genocide against its Rohingya Muslim minority population. In the 1970s, she defended anti-apartheid activists in her home country South Africa and this year led a United Nations panel that determined Israel committed genocide in Gaza.
President Donald Trump has long said he believes he deserves the Nobel Peace Prize. After Venezuelan democracy activist María Corina Machado was awarded the honor last year, she handed her medal over to Trump to gain favor with the U.S. president.
Created in 2002 and based in The Hague, the ICC was designed to handle some of the most serious crimes in the world, such as war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide.
Trump had previously imposed sanctions on individuals affiliated with the ICC, including in August against the body’s president and a senior trial lawyer.
U.S. allies and rights groups denounced Friday’s sanctions.
“We regret and strongly disagree with the announcement of sanctions to be imposed upon the Court by the United States,” read a joint statement issued by Canada, Denmark, Germany, France, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom.
“If put into effect, these sanctions will have a significant impact on the Court’s work, its dedicated staff and their families,” the statement continued.
Amnesty International called on states to push back. “States must take concrete action to resist the imposition of these measures and actively protect the Court,” Erika Guevara Rosas, a senior director at Amnesty, said in a statement.
“A final line in the sand has been crossed. This is an attack on the very possibility of holding those responsible for the gravest crimes accountable under international law, no matter how powerful they may be,” she said.
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