U.S. sanctions ICC chief Tomoko Akane of Japan

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International Criminal Court in the Hague, Netherlands. File | Photo Credit: Reuters

The United States on Tuesday (August 18, 2026) imposed sanctions against International Criminal Court President Tomoko Akane of Japan and another senior official as part of its campaign against the body that it accuses of being "politicized."

Washington also slapped sanctions on ICC Senior Trial Lawyer Abdoulaye Seye of Senegal in the Trump administration's latest salvo against The Hague-based court.

"These individuals have directly engaged in efforts by the ICC to investigate, arrest, detain, or prosecute officials whose government has not consented to ICC jurisdiction," U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement, without providing examples.

The ICC retorted Tuesday (August 18), saying the U.S. sanctions "undermine the rule of law."

"When judicial actors are threatened for applying the law, it is the international legal order itself that is placed at risk," the court said in a statement.

Established in 2002, the ICC prosecutes individuals accused of the gravest atrocities and acts as a last resort when countries do not have adequate legal systems to ensure accountability.

The United States, which is not a party to the international treaty that established the ICC, has already imposed sanctions against several of the court's officials.

The measures bar them from entering the United States and from carrying out transactions in the U.S. financial system.

It is largely a response to ICC investigations targeting Israel, a U.S. ally. In 2024, the court issued an arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over the war in Gaza .

In an X post Tuesday evening (August 18), Mr. Netanyahu applauded the U.S. sanctions and called the ICC "a kangaroo court that cloaks its abuse of power in the language of international law."

The Netherlands, where the ICC is based in The Hague, "disapproves of the latest sanctions against officials and staff of the ICC," Dutch Foreign Minister Tom Berendsen wrote in an X post.

"International courts and tribunals must be able to freely carry out their mandates," he added.