The International Bar Association said the actions went against the global rule of law
The US administration has added to existing sanctions against International Criminal Court judges and officials in a move decried by the International Bar Association as being against the global rule of law.
The US sanctioned ICC judges Nicolas Guillou and Kimberly Prost as well as deputy prosecutors Nazhat Shameem Khan and Mame Mandiaye Niang on Wednesday August 20. The sanctions prevent them from entering the US and block their assets in the country.
The IBA described the Trump administration’s actions as “an attack against the global rule of law and the independence of judges,” per a media release. The association urged ICC states parties to protect the court.
“The International Criminal Court was created to ensure that victims of genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity, and aggression can seek justice. With these sanctions, the US administration continues to shamefully obstruct justice for these victims,” IBA executive director Mark Ellis said in a statement. “Sanctioning eminent lawyers and judges for doing their jobs is a perversion of the rule of law and an affront to the integrity of the international legal order.”
Last November, Guillou had greenlit the issuance of arrest warrants for Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former defense minister Yoav Gallant, while Prost helped authorize the launch of an ICC investigation into the Afghanistan situation in March 2020. The US State Department accused Khan and Niang of backing unlawful ICC anti-Israel actions.
Ellis accused the administration of bullying others to hamper the court’s functions.
“The Trump administration is using bullying tactics to intimidate and deter an international court from performing its legitimate functions, and in doing so aligns itself with the worst of oppressive regimes,” Ellis said.
The sanctions were implemented pursuant to US president Donald Trump’s February 6 Executive Order 14203.
“Judges and prosecutors must be able to carry out their work without fear of retribution. The IBA continues to stand for the independence of judges and lawyers, a fundamental principle of the rule of law,” IBA president Jaime Carey said in a statement.
