BRUSSELS: The EU has given its backing to the International Criminal Court after Washington imposed sanctions on four ICC judges, and EU member Slovenia said it would push Brussels to use its power to ensure the US sanctions could not be enforced in Europe.
“The ICC holds perpetrators of the world’s gravest crimes to account and gives victims a voice. It must be free to act without pressure,” European Commission President Ursula Von der Leyen said on the social media platform X.
Antonio Costa, president of the European Council, which represents national governments of the 27 member states, called the court “a cornerstone of international justice” and said its independence and integrity must be protected.
The International Criminal Court must be free to act without pressure.
Ursula Von der Leyen, European Commission president
The US imposed sanctions on four judges at the ICC in retaliation for the war tribunal’s issuance of an arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and a past decision to open a case into alleged war crimes by US troops in Afghanistan.
The initial US order names Solomy Balungi Bossa of Uganda, Luz del Carmen Ibanez Carranza of Peru, Reine Adelaide Sophie Alapini Gansou of Benin, and Beti Hohler of Slovenia.
The US sanctions mean the judges are now on a list of specially designated sanctioned individuals.
Any US assets they have will be blocked, and they are put on an automated screening service used by not only American banks but many banks worldwide, making it very difficult for sanctioned persons to hold or open bank accounts or transfer money.
The initial order announcing sanctions on the ICC also said that US citizens who provide services for the benefit of sanctioned individuals could face civil and criminal penalties.
Slovenia urged the EU to use its blocking statute, which lets the EU ban European companies from complying with US sanctions that Brussels deems unlawful.
“Due to the inclusion of a citizen of an EU member state on the sanctions list, Slovenia will propose the immediate activation of the blocking act,” Slovenia’s Foreign Ministry said in a post on the social media site X.
ICC president Judge Tomoko Akane had urged the EU already in March this year to bring the ICC into the scope of the blocking statute.
The new sanctions have been imposed at a difficult time for the ICC, which is already reeling from earlier US sanctions against its chief prosecutor, Karim Khan, who last month stepped aside temporarily amid a UN investigation into alleged sexual misconduct.
The court’s governing body, representing 125 member states, condemned the US government’s decision to retaliate against judges.
“These … are regrettable attempts to impede the court and its personnel in the exercise of their independent judicial functions,” the Presidency of the Assembly of States Parties said.
ICC gives victims of the gravest crimes a voice, EU leader says
