Trump administration sanctions top ICC officials

KABUL.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced the expected sanctions at a news conference in Washington on Wednesday, according to international media outlets.

America’s National Public Radio (NPR) reported that Pompeo slammed the ICC as a thoroughly broken and corrupt institution. "We will not tolerate its illegitimate attempts to subject Americans to its jurisdiction."

The sanctions are slapped at Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda and the court's head of jurisdiction Phakiso Mochochoko, who were put on Treasury Department's "Specially Designated Nationals" list.

Decried by human rights campaigner, the Trump administration’s aggressive move freezes any assets they might have in the US or subject to American law.

In March, the court pressed ahead with its investigation into possible war crimes and crimes against humanity in Afghanistan, including those allegedly committed by US forces.

Meanwhile, the Assembly of States Parties is the court's oversight and legislative body President O-Gon Kwon get out at the sanctions.

"I strongly reject such unprecedented and unacceptable measures against a treaty-based international organisation. They only serve to weaken our common endeavor to fight impunity for mass atrocities," he said.

The sanctions will have a serious impact on Bensouda and Mochochoko, who lose access to their assets in the US but besides being cut off from commercial and financial dealings with American nationals, banks and other companies.

In a statement, Human Rights Watch said: "The Trump administration's perverse use of sanctions, devised for alleged terrorists and drug kingpins, against prosecutors seeking justice for grave international crimes, magnifies the failure of the US to prosecute torture."

For his part, Pompeo explained individuals and entities that continued to materially support Bensouda and Mochochoko would risk exposure to sanctions as well.

The State Department restricted the issuance of visas for the individuals involved in the court’s efforts to investigate US personnel.

Bensouda was allowed by ICC in March to investigate whether war crimes were committed in Afghanistan by the Taliban, the Afghan military and US forces.

PAN Monitor/mud