The standoff between Washington and the International Criminal Court (ICC) has escalated from diplomatic confrontation to personal disruption, as US sanctions now affect the daily lives of several judges and court officials.
In February 2025, US President Donald Trump signed Executive Order 14203, authorizing sanctions against individuals deemed to have assisted ICC investigations involving Israeli officials. The order bars targeted individuals from entering the United States and freezes US-based assets.
The State Department later imposed sanctions on several named ICC judges, as well as Prosecutor Karim Khan and other officials.
The administration has also imposed sanctions on figures outside the court, including Francesca Albanese, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Occupied Palestinian Territories - the UN term for the West Bank, Gaza and east Jerusalem.
Albanese has faced criticism over past statements, including a claim that the United States is “subjugated by the Jewish lobby,” and repeated accusations that Israel has committed genocide.
In announcing sanctions against her in July 2025, Rubio accused Albanese of having “[spewed] unabashed antisemitism, expressed support for terrorism, and open contempt for the United States, Israel, and the West.”
Although not affiliated with the ICC, the Italian national was sanctioned under the same executive order. She has since said she is unable to enter the United States, access certain financial services, or use credit cards.
Describing herself as “financially censored,” Albanese said the measures have limited her ability to book hotel rooms, transfer funds, or travel to the United States for official business.
Despite the personal disruptions, ICC judges have said the sanctions will not influence their decisions.
According to the Guardian, the sanctions have had immediate and wide-ranging personal consequences.
Canadian judge Kimberly Prost told the newspaper she felt “a moment of a bit of disbelief” upon learning she had been sanctioned. Following an additional round of sanctions in August 2025, she said she was unable to access her Google and Amazon accounts or use her credit card.
“These are coercive measures designed to attack our ability to do our jobs objectively and independently,” Prost said. “We want people to appreciate how wrong this is.”
Peruvian judge Luz del Carmen Ibáñez Carranza said her Dutch bank abruptly canceled her credit card, which she described as an example of financial institutions engaging in “over-compliance.”
She told the Guardian that some banks were “terrified about their relations with US banks or institutions” and were acting preemptively to avoid potential repercussions.
“This is the kind of persecution that I think the world should not allow to happen,” she said.
“We serve humanity. We are delivering justice for the most vulnerable victims around the world, for millions and millions of women and children who have no voice."
The State Department defended the sanctions, accusing the ICC of “politicization” and “abuse of power.”
“The Court is a national security threat that has been an instrument for lawfare against the United States and our close ally Israel,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement.
“It remains the policy of the United States Government to take whatever actions we deem necessary to protect our troops, our sovereignty, and our allies from the ICC’s illegitimate and baseless actions.”
“These measures are completely futile,” Prost told the Guardian.
“On behalf of all of the judges of this court and the prosecutors, we will continue to do our jobs independently. It does not affect the way we look at our cases or how we decide them.
The ICC was established in 2002
Established by the Rome Statute in 2002, the ICC has jurisdiction to prosecute genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes committed in member states. Although the United States is not a party to the Rome Statute, tensions between Washington and the court intensified after it sought arrest warrants against Israeli officials.
In November 2024, the ICC approved arrest warrants for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and then-defense minister Yoav Gallant, despite Israel not being a member of the court. The move drew strong condemnation from Jerusalem and Washington.