Japan criticises US over 'unfortunate' sanctions on ICC

TOKYO: In a rare criticism of its United States ally, Japan on Wednesday (Aug 19) described Washington's decision to impose sanctions on the International Criminal Court's (ICC) Japanese president and a senior trial lawyer as "very unfortunate".

The pushback came after Secretary of State Marco Rubio said he was imposing sanctions on Japanese judge and ICC President Tomoko Akane and Abdoulaye Seye, a Senegalese lawyer on the prosecution team that sought an arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The US State Department had said on Jul 13 that "no diplomatic option will be off-limits in the campaign ​to dismantle the threat posed by the ICC to Americans".

The measures freeze any US assets held by those sanctioned and largely shut them out of the US financial system, to which most international banks are closely connected.

"Japan has consistently supported the ICC, which is a permanent international criminal court, in its efforts to prosecute and punish the most serious crimes of concern to the international community," Japan's foreign ministry said in a statement.

The latest escalation in US President Donald Trump's campaign against the Hague-based court puts Washington directly at odds with Tokyo over an institution that was set up in 2002 to prosecute war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity. Japan joined in 2007.

Japan, which relies heavily on US military power for its defence, rarely criticises Washington. The sanctions campaign has also put the US at odds with its European allies.

ICC DEPLORES US MOVE

The ICC on Wednesday said it "deplores" the latest move by Washington, which took the number of sanctioned staff members to 13, including nine out of eighteen judges, both deputy prosecutors, the former prosecutor and a trial attorney. 

"These sanctions are a flagrant attack against the independence of an impartial judicial institution," it said.

"When judicial actors are threatened for applying the law, it is the international legal order itself that is placed at risk. Threats and coercive measures also impact the ability of victims to seek justice, as they turn to the court when all other avenues have been exhausted," it said.

At least five of the court's 125 member states have announced plans to withdraw in recent months amid escalated US pressure.

Dutch Foreign Minister Tom Berendsen said on X that the Netherlands, which hosts the court, opposed the latest US sanctions and he invited Akane to "discuss our continued support".

Akane warned in December that US sanctions could “rapidly undermine the court’s operations in all situations and cases and jeopardise its very existence”.