According to a Trump administration official, the International Criminal Court's foundation treaty should be amended to prevent it from looking into the Republican president and his top staff. Failure to do so could result in fresh sanctions from the United States.
According to the official, Washington may punish more ICC officials and potentially sanction the court itself if the court does not comply with two demands made by the United States: dropping investigations into Israeli leaders regarding the Gaza war and formally ending an earlier investigation into U.S. troops regarding their actions in Afghanistan.
The U.S. campaign against the ICC, which has long been denounced by American leaders, both Republicans and Democrats, who claim the court violates U.S. sovereignty, would be greatly intensified by sanctioning the court.
Speaking under the condition of anonymity, the Trump administration official stated that Washington has informed the court of its demands as well as ICC members, some of whom are allies of the United States.
The Rome Statute, which created the ICC in 2002 as a court of last resort with the authority to prosecute heads of state, does not include the United States as a party. There has been no prior reporting on the demand or the threat to restart the U.S. sanctions campaign against the court.
For alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity during the Gaza battle, ICC judges in November issued arrest warrants for Hamas commander Ibrahim al-Masri, former Israeli defense director Yoav Gallant, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Prosecutors began looking into any crimes committed by U.S. personnel in Afghanistan in March 2020. The court has not technically concluded its investigation, but it has deprioritized examining the U.S. role since 2021.
The United States imposed penalties on nine ICC officials, including judges and prosecutors, earlier this year in an attempt to pressure the war tribunal to withdraw these allegations. However, it has refrained from punishing the court as a whole, which would seriously interfere with the tribunal's operations.
"There is growing concern that in 2029 the ICC will turn its attention to the president, to the vice president, to the secretary of war and others, and pursue prosecutions against them," the official from the Trump administration stated.
"That is unacceptable, and we will not allow it to happen." The White House did not immediately comment on the situation. The Rome Statute must be approved by two-thirds of the nations that have ratified it, making any attempt to amend it to satisfy American demands sluggish and challenging.
"Amendments to the Rome Statute are within the prerogative of States Parties," the ICC's public affairs office, which represents the court and its presidency, stated in response to inquiries from Reuters. The question of whether Washington has contacted Trump to request prosecution immunity was left unanswered.
The court's capacity to pay employees, access bank accounts, and run standard office software on its computers could all be impacted by sanctions imposed on it as an organization.
The International Criminal Court (ICC) is the world's permanent war crimes tribunal, with 125 member states, including the whole European Union, but excluding significant powers like China, Russia, and the United States.
The court's mission permits it to prosecute anyone, including sitting heads of state, for alleged crimes committed on member state territory by them or by citizens under their supervision.
The Trump official did not specify which problems the administration is concerned would be the focus of an ICC probe. However, when the Republican president's term expires in 2029, the official highlighted "open chatter" in the global legal community that the court would prosecute Trump and his top staff.
"The solution is that they need to change the Rome Statute to make very clear that they don't have jurisdiction," added the official. Over 80 individuals have died as a result of the U.S. military's deadly campaign against suspected drug vessels in the Caribbean and off the Pacific coasts of Latin America, which began in September.
Congressmen have stated that they will look into whether the U.S. military violated the law by allegedly murdering two survivors of an attack on a suspected drug trafficking vessel in the Caribbean. The White House has argued that the strike was legal.
The official declined to provide further details when asked if the administration was making this demand of the ICC due to worries that the court would bring charges against American leaders for their actions in Venezuela.
Reuters was informed on Friday by the two deputy prosecutors of the ICC that they had not been asked to look into U.S. actions concerning Venezuela. Additionally, the U.S. official refused to specify when Washington started communicating this demand to the member states and the court.
The Assembly of States Parties, the court's governing body, would have to give its consent before enshrining blanket immunity for certain individuals, as this would be viewed as weakening the court's fundamental values.
According to the court's legislation, fundamental modifications to the court's jurisdiction would require an even bigger majority to be adopted, even though most amendments need the approval of two-thirds of members to pass.
