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The court responded firmly, calling the move unprecedented, following sanctions measures that the US had implemented against 13 judges and prosecutors.
Attack on ‘international legal order’
ICC describe the size as “an attack on the rule of law and the foundations of the international legal order”.
The designation, the court said, was aimed at disrupting its operations and “intimidating those working or cooperating with the court.” But, it cannot be shaken.
“The court will continue to carry out its mandate in full, with independence and impartiality, acting solely on the basis of the law and evidence on behalf of the countless victims of serious crimes,” said ICC President Tomoko Akane.
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Stand up and be counted
However, the court acknowledged that it could not stand alone.
“Its fate now also lies in the hands of the countries that created it,” the statement said, adding that the promises of the Rome Statute “will only be as strong as the resolve of those who created it.”.
“No one should be punished for carrying out justice. History will judge this moment,” he concluded.
Rubio: ‘We will end the ICC’
Announcing the sanctions, Rubio said the US would “prohibit dealings with these rogue courts, cutting off their resources and crippling their ability to operate.”
“America has never joined the court. We don’t need it. And we don’t want it,” he added.
Rubio said the door to diplomacy remains open, but he issued a stern warning. “The ICC will end its threats, or we will end the ICC,” he said, adding that Washington expected its allies to “control the court”.
Guterres condemned the action
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres harshly criticized US decision, according to its spokesman, Stéphane Dujarric.
The UN chief condemned the new sanctions against the court “as an institution”.
Mr Guterres “deeply concerned” by the expected impact on the court’s “continued ability to carry out its important mandate” and called the sanctions “a serious blow to our collective efforts to achieve international criminal justice The ICC is the main pillar”.
He reiterated his “steadfast support for the independence of the court and its officials” and called on all countries to uphold their commitments under international law.
The UN remains committed to cooperating with the ICC based on the relations agreement approved by the General Assembly on 13 September 2004, the statement added.
Sanctions ‘directly hurt’ victims
UN independent human rights expert be warned separately that US sanctions are a “brazen attempt” to dismantle the collective international legal system to hold perpetrators of the most serious crimes accountable.
They called on countries committed to the rule of law to stand together to defend the judiciary and its independence.
“Sanctioning institutions entrusted with delivering justice for the gravest international crimes is an attack on the foundations of international accountability and the rule of law,” experts said.
“No state should place itself beyond the reach of the law by intimidating the courts created to enforce the law and attempting to dissolve them.”
UN Human Rights Council-designated experts – who are not employed by the UN and receive no salary for their work – added that the attack “directly hurting the victims of atrocities and their supporters, who rely on the ICC for justice, accountability and reparations.”.
