The ICC rejects Trump’s sanctions

ICC president O-Gon Kwon said unprecedented US sanctions “undermine our common endeavor to fight impunity and to ensure accountability for mass atrocities.”  He claimed that the international crimes court is “an independent and impartial court of law.” On Thursday, US President Donald Trump imposed sanctions on all court official investigating alleged US troops’ war crimes in Afghanistan. A senior administration official said the investigation is “being pushed forward by an organization of dubious integrity.” Trump also accused the tribunal of “politically persecuting Israel, our ally.” During his visit to Israel last month, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo harshly accused the ICC of launching an investigation against Israel out of political motives as a political body not a judicial institution.  The presidential directive authorizes Pompeo to freeze the assets of ICC officials involved in the investigation and block their entry to the US.