US sanctions on ICC hitting staff banking, but court says work continues
ICC deputy prosecutor Nazhat Shameem Khan said this month that new US sanctions on the international criminal court are affecting staff but have not slowed its investigations, including the Gaza war probe.
US sanctions on ICC hitting staff banking, but court says work continues
Rubio's sanctions and ultimatum
The sanctions were announced this month by US secretary of state Marco Rubio, who accused the ICC of being a "rogue court". Rubio paired the announcement with a six-month window for the court "to negotiate and present a solution to address our concerns".
Either the ICC will end its threats, or we will end the ICC.
According to Khan, Rubio justified the measures by claiming, without evidence, that "globalist 'experts' an ocean away" wanted the ICC to prosecute US citizens. She responded that what he meant was unclear, saying the court "certainly hasn't brought any Americans before the court". Should his reference have been to Afghanistan, she pointed to the focus there on offences committed specifically against women, girls and other vulnerable groups.
Impact on staff and operations
Although the measures are not due to take effect until six months from 9 October 2026, Khan reported that they are already being felt inside the building, with some staff members running into trouble with banks.
In her view, lenders are "over-complying" to minimise risk while there was uncertainty over the ultimate scope of the penalties.
These are sanctions imposed on the institutions and, in principle, our individual members should not be impacted directly.
- A first round of US measures in February 2025 named 13 ICC staff - Khan among them.
- "Life without a credit card is inconvenient. It's amazing how many things now we cannot do around the world," she said.
- Victims, she added, put that discomfort in perspective: "We see the faces of our victims for whom sanctions and credit cards are completely irrelevant. They just want justice."
Practical adjustments are under way: the court has moved its software from Microsoft to European alternatives and is negotiating with relevant service providers over banking and health insurance.
Investigations 'making significant progress'
The absence of new charges in the ICC Gaza war investigation since November 2024 - when war crimes arrest warrants were issued for the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and his former defence minister, Yoav Galant - is explained by a court ruling, not inactivity: under it, charges and warrant applications stay confidential unless judges order otherwise, and pending applications from the prosecutor remain sealed on the same basis.
All the investigations across all situations continue. We haven't made any decision based on the sanctions to reduce our capability or reduce our output.
Khan, who shares leadership of the prosecutor's office until a new chief prosecutor is appointed, said the work had made "significant progress" since the November 2024 warrants. "While there might be an appearance that nothing is happening, I can assure you that there's significant progress in that particular situation as well as others," she said.
Support from Europe
Behind the scenes, the ICC registrar is negotiating with the EU over blocking the US sanctions or shielding the court by other means. Public backing came on Thursday, when the European parliament awarded its Sakharov prize for freedom of thought to the court and its officials.
Khan described the prize as "a very important message that the staff at the court need to hear", adding that the level of attention on the institution shows how relevant it is - a court, in her words, offering justice to victims with nowhere else to go.
