INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
United States President Donald Trump on Thursday authorized economic and travel sanctions targeting people who work on International
Criminal Court investigations of United States citizens or United States allies such as Israel, repeating action he took during his first
term.The move coincides with a visit to Washington by Israel&s Prime Minister Benajmin Netanyahu, who & along with his former defense
minister and a leader of Palestinian militant group Hamas & is wanted by the ICC over the war in the Gaza Strip, Reuters reported.It was
unclear how quickly the United States would announce names of people sanctioned
During the first Trump administration in 2020, Washington imposed sanctions on then-prosecutor Fatou Bensouda and one of her top aides over
the ICC&s investigation into alleged war crimes by American troops in Afghanistan.The ICC did not immediately respond to a request for
The sanctions include freezing any United States assets of those designated and barring them and their families from visiting the United
States.The 125-member ICC is a permanent court that can prosecute individuals for war crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide and the
crime of aggression against the territory of member states or by their nationals
The United States, China, Russia and Israel are not members.Trump signed the executive order after United States Senate Democrats last week
blocked a Republican-led effort to pass legislation setting up a sanctions regime targeting the war crimes court.The court has taken
measures to shield staff from possible United States sanctions, paying salaries three months in advance, as it braced for financial
restrictions that could cripple the war crimes tribunal, sources told Reuters last month.In December, the court&s president, judge Tomoko
Akane, warned that sanctions would &rapidly undermine the Court&s operations in all situations and cases, and jeopardise its very
existence.Russia has also taken aim at the court
In 2023, the ICC issued an arrest warrant for President Vladimir Putin, accusing him of the war crime of illegally deporting hundreds of
Russia has banned entry to ICC chief prosecutor Karim Khan and placed him and two ICC judges on its wanted list.The post Trump imposes
sanctions on International Criminal Court first appeared on Ariana News.
