Trump’s ICC penalties target a war crimes prosecutor first, according to sources

Karim Khan, the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, is the first individual to be subject to travel and economic sanctions approved by U.S. President Donald Trump that target the war crimes tribunal for looking into U.S. citizens or allies, two people briefed on the subject told Reuters on Friday.

Following a briefing by U.S. government officials, a senior ICC official and another source told Reuters that Khan, a British national, was named on Friday in an annex—which has not yet been made public—to an executive order issued by Trump the day before. They discussed a private subject while speaking on condition of anonymity.

Those identified are prohibited from traveling to the United States with their families, and their U.S. assets are frozen.

Within 60 days, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, after consulting with Secretary of State Marco Rubio, was required to provide a report outlining the individuals who should be sanctioned.

As it denounced the penalties on Friday, the ICC promised to support its employees and “continue providing justice and hope to millions of innocent victims of atrocities across the world, in all situations before it.” Court representatives convened Friday in The Hague to talk about the sanctions’ ramifications.

Since its founding in 2002, the International Criminal Court has had the authority to try cases including war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide in member nations as well as those submitted by the U.N. Security Council.

Several nations issued warnings on Friday that the U.S. penalties may “threaten to undermine the international rule of law and increase the risk of impunity for the most serious crimes.”

“The Court may have to close its field offices due to sanctions, which would seriously undermine all situations currently under investigation,” the 79 nations, which comprise around two-thirds of the court’s members, stated in a statement.

The United Nations’ relationship with the United States.

Khan should be permitted to visit New York on a regular basis to update the U.N. Security Council on matters it had referred to the Hague court under a deal between the United Nations and Washington. The ICC has been asked to investigate the circumstances in Libya and the Darfur area of Sudan by the Security Council.

According to deputy U.N. spokesperson Farhan Haq, “We trust that any restrictions taken against individuals would be implemented consistently with the host country’s obligations under the U.N. Headquarters agreement,” the statement states on Friday.

Khan last gave a briefing on Sudan to the Security Council in New York last week.

“International criminal law is an essential element to fighting impunity, which is unfortunately widespread,” added Haq. “The International Criminal Court is its essential element, and it must be allowed to work in full independence.”

Trump repeated a move he made during his first term on Thursday, coinciding with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s visit to Washington. Netanyahu, along with his former defense minister and a leader of the Palestinian militant group Hamas, is wanted by the ICC for the war in Gaza.

During his Friday visit to the U.S. Congress, Netanyahu hailed Trump’s action, calling the court a “scandalous” institution “that threatens the right of all democracies to defend themselves.”