09.10.2026 21:10
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced that they had decided to impose sanctions on the ICC after former International Criminal Court judge Navi Pillay won the 2026 Nobel Peace Prize. Rubio said, "Either the ICC will end its threats, or we will eliminate the ICC."
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced that they had decided to impose sanctions on the International Criminal Court (ICC) after South African jurist Navi Pillay, a former ICC judge, won the “2026 Nobel Peace Prize.”
US Secretary of State Rubio, in a video post on his social media account, announced the sanctions decision they made today against the ICC.
RUBIO: WE WILL IMPOSE SANCTIONS ON THE INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT
Rubio said, “President Trump will never allow the International Criminal Court to try Americans. That is why today the United States is imposing sanctions on the International Criminal Court.”
Emphasizing that they are not a member of the court and do not accept that this court has any jurisdiction over American citizens, Rubio stated that they took the sanctions decision to prevent the ICC from taking such a step at any point.
Rubio included the statement, “Either the ICC will end its threats, or we will eliminate the ICC.”
The US Secretary said, “If they do not do this, the United States will continue to dismantle the ICC step by step until Americans are no longer under threat.”
It drew attention that the US announced the sanctions decision only a few hours after Pillay, a former judge of the court and who recently led the preparation of a United Nations (UN) report concluding that “Israel committed genocide in Gaza,” won the Nobel Peace Prize.
US HAD IMPOSED SANCTIONS ON ICC JUDGES AND PROSECUTORS
The court issued arrest warrants in November 2024 for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant over the genocide in Gaza, while the US strongly objected to the decision and stated that it did not recognize it.
The Washington administration had imposed sanctions in August on ICC judges and prosecutors, including court President Tomoko Akane.
US President Donald Trump had stated that the campaign Rubio waged against the Court was carried out to protect Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu, not himself.