Trump’s Sanctions on International Criminal Court Could Cripple Its Operations, Experts Warn

U.S. President Donald Trump’s recent decision to impose sanctions on the International Criminal Court (ICC) has raised alarms about the court’s ability to carry out its vital work. The ICC, which was set up to address the world’s worst crimes, including war crimes and crimes against humanity, will now face significant hurdles due to these sanctions, experts say.

While neither the U.S. nor Israel are members of the ICC, the sanctions — which include a travel ban for court officials to the U.S. — will have a far-reaching impact. Financial institutions may refuse to work with the court for fear of U.S. reprisals, complicating everything from gathering evidence to securing technical support.

James Patrick Sexton, a PhD researcher at the TMC Asser Instituut and University of Amsterdam, warned that major companies, such as Microsoft, could pull their support for the ICC, seeing it as too risky to do business with the court under these conditions. “Companies and organisations might just stop doing business with the ICC because it’s too much of a risk,” Sexton said.

The sanctions are also feared to have a chilling effect on victims of alleged atrocities, who may be less likely to come forward with their testimony. Thijs Bouwknegt of the NIOD Institute for War, Holocaust and Genocide Studies described the sanctions as an “internal crisis” for the ICC, potentially hindering its ability to hold perpetrators of mass violence accountable.