Theme: International Criminal Court

Japan’s government is considering financial aid to the International Criminal Court (ICC), which has been hit by sanctions, following a call from the court’s president, according to Kyodo News.

International Criminal Court (ICC) President Tomoko Akane told the UN General Assembly on Monday that US sanctions against the court are an attempt to obstruct the course of justice. In a virtual address, she said the measures, imposed on October 9 — the same day the Norwegian Nobel Committee awarded the Peace Prize to former ICC judge Navi Pillay — target 13 independent judges and prosecutors, including herself, and strike at “the heart of the sovereign equality of states.”

The Philippine government offered a bounty of 50 million pesos (US$786,000) on Friday for the capture of Senator Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa, a former national police chief, according to the South China Morning Post (SCMP), in a text by Agence France-Presse (AFP). “As of today, Senator Bato will be considered armed and dangerous. We are placing a bounty of 50 million pesos (US$786,000) for his capture,” Interior Secretary Juanito Victor Remulla said at a news conference. Dela Rosa is wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC), which unsealed a November 2025 arrest warrant against him in May. Former president Rodrigo Duterte, whose anti-drug crackdown dela Rosa spearheaded, goes on trial on November 30 for crimes against humanity, including murder and attempted murder.

The European Parliament awarded the International Criminal Court (ICC) the Sakharov Prize, the European Union's (EU) top human rights honour, two weeks after US President Donald Trump vowed to dismantle the court through new sanctions. “The European Union is built on respect for multilateralism and international institutions, and this prize recognises the important work of the court in upholding international law and justice,” said European Parliament President Roberta Metsola. The ICC thanked the parliament for the honour “at a time when the Court and its officials face unprecedented challenges”, and its president, Tomoko Akane, said the prize carries particular significance by reaffirming the importance of independent judicial institutions. It is the second international recognition for the tribunal this month: former ICC judge Navi Pillay was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

The International Criminal Court (ICC) was awarded the European Union’s top human rights prize, the Sakharov Prize, on Thursday, while facing United States sanctions, according to Le Monde. The court thanked the European Parliament for the award at a time when “the Court and its officials face unprecedented challenges”, the newspaper reported.

Navi Pillay, former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and 2026 Nobel Peace Prize winner, condemned US sanctions against the International Criminal Court (ICC), imposed shortly after she won the prize, describing the measures as “unlawful” against a court mandated to uphold the Rome Statute, according to Al Jazeera.

Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman, Esmail Baghaei, said the international order collapses as much through aggression as when the use of force becomes normalised and the world stays silent about it, according to Mehr News. The statement reacted to new US sanctions against the International Criminal Court (ICC) and threats to dismantle it, the agency said.

This year’s Nobel Peace Prize laureate, judge and former UN rights chief Navi Pillay, called US sanctions against the International Criminal Court (ICC) unheard of and unacceptable, according to AFP, in text published by RFI. Pillay said there is so much tension and anxiety over the continued existence of international courts, mainly the ICC in The Hague. Hours after she was named the laureate, the US announced new sanctions against the court, provoking swift condemnation from member states and the United Nations, according to AFP.

The Hind Rajab Foundation announced on Thursday that it had asked the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague to investigate the involvement of Israeli medical personnel in alleged abuses at Sde Teiman. The request names medical professionals, hospital administrators, senior Health Ministry and Defense Ministry officials, and leaders of the Israel Medical Association, in connection with alleged abuses at the facility since October 7, 2023. The submission was filed under Article 15 of the Rome Statute and is not an indictment or a court decision to open an investigation, according to the Jerusalem Post.

US President Donald Trump said that Washington's sanctions on the International Criminal Court (ICC) were intended to defend Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and others from prosecution, not himself.

The US will ban transactions with the International Criminal Court (ICC), cutting off its resources and crippling its ability to operate, according to Reuters, in a text republished by CNBC Africa — a move that goes far further by potentially punishing companies that provide services to the court itself. The court said that “no one should be punished for serving the cause of justice” and that “history will judge this moment”, according to Middle East Eye.

European states, Canada, Japan and the United Nations (UN) came out in defence of the International Criminal Court (ICC) against United States (US) sanctions, after Washington sanctioned the court itself on Friday. The ICC said the move was an “assault on the rule of law and on the very foundations of the international legal order” and called on its 125 member states to defend the institution. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced that Washington would ban transactions with the “rogue court”, cutting off its resources and crippling its ability to operate.

United Nations (UN) Secretary-General Guterres condemned the new US sanctions on the International Criminal Court (ICC), according to UN News. The court said the measure is aimed at disrupting its operations and intimidating those who work for or cooperate with it.

The Trump administration announced on Friday, October 9, 2026, severe financial sanctions on the International Criminal Court (ICC), an effort to cripple the global body that prosecutes war crimes, including genocide, and other serious criminal acts, according to The New York Times. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Washington would ban transactions with what he called a “rogue court”. The court responded that the sanctions are “an assault on the rule of law and on the very foundations of the international legal order,” one that strikes at the principle that no one stands above the law. The EU called the sanctions “deeply regrettable” and said it was ready to take any necessary measures to enable the court to carry out its work. The US justifies the move by the arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over alleged crimes in Gaza, according to AFP, in a text published by France 24.

The International Criminal Court (ICC) unsealed warrants against four Taliban leaders for gender persecution, issued in July and September last year, according to The Hindu. Among the targets are the Taliban’s supreme leader, Hibatullah Akhundzada, and the head of Afghanistan’s Supreme Court, Abdul Hakim Haqqani. The court sees reasonable grounds to hold them criminally responsible for persecution, a crime against humanity under article 7(1)(h) of the Rome Statute. Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid rejected the decision.

Lawyer Stanley Cohen told RT that the International Criminal Court (ICC) is weakened by the impotence of member states and the United Nations in the face of the warrant against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. In 2024, the Hague-based court issued warrants for Netanyahu and his then-defense minister, Yoav Gallant, over alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in the Gaza war.

Leonie von Braun, senior trial lawyer at the International Criminal Court (ICC) and lead investigator in the Kony case, told France24 that the latest information indicates the leader of the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) is still alive, active and present within the group, today on a much smaller scale than in the 2000s; given his age, he is probably not on the front lines of operations. In the Central African Republic, authorities report a resurgence of attacks in the east and southeast of the country, with at least 25 children abducted in several raids on villages, in attacks attributed to Kony's militia.

The International Criminal Court (ICC) has ended its contract with the French health and life insurer Axa effective immediately and will be moving to another insurance provider, Al Jazeera reported. Axa and the Court decided by mutual agreement to terminate the contractual relationship, an ICC spokesperson told Reuters news agency. The move comes as the White House was preparing sanctions against the court, The Wall Street Journal reported late last month, amid the court’s call to arrest Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is preparing a potential case at the International Criminal Court (ICC) against Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, seeking to use it as leverage in their escalating dispute, according to i24NEWS, cited by RT. According to RT, Netanyahu reportedly instructed an Israeli interministerial team and the head of Israel’s International Law Department to prepare a dossier focused primarily on alleged attacks against Kurdish minorities, along with accusations that Erdogan’s government finances Hamas. The move would follow Türkiye’s request last month for an Interpol Red Notice for Netanyahu, after a Turkish court issued an arrest warrant on charges including genocide over Israel’s interception of the Gaza-bound Global Sumud Flotilla earlier this year.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered an interministerial team and a senior Justice Ministry official to prepare a legal case against Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, according to the Middle East Eye, citing i24NEWS. The order followed Erdogan’s announcement that Turkey had asked Interpol to issue a red notice for Netanyahu. According to TASS, which also cites i24News, Netanyahu instructed his government to prepare a filing with the International Criminal Court (ICC) accusing Erdogan. Neither Israel nor Turkey is a party to the Rome Statute and neither recognizes the ICC’s jurisdiction.

The International Criminal Court (ICC) has insulated itself against United States sanctions, deputy prosecutor Nazhat Shameem Khan told the Financial Times, in a Reuters text republished by WIMZ. The court moved its office software from Microsoft to the German open-source alternative openDesk and found workarounds for health insurance and banking, and began paying employees months in advance to mitigate payroll disruption. Donald Trump’s administration has prepared sanctions against the entire court and plans to announce them soon.

There is alarm at the United Nations (UN) over U.S. threats of sanctions against the International Criminal Court (ICC), according to The Guardian.

The French government said the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) arrest warrant against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu did not prevent the “Wing of Zion” official aircraft from overflying its territory en route to the United Nations (UN) General Assembly in New York, according to The Times of Israel. According to the newspaper, Paris argues the Rome Statute does not require an overflown state to arrest a suspect, and flight data show the plane also crossed Italian and Greek airspace, both states party to the treaty, according to Today.az.

Donald Trump called on Tuesday, 22 September 2026, at the 81st United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York for every country that is a member of the International Criminal Court (ICC) to resign from what he called an “out-of-control institution” and “an evil group of people”. “I call on all nations that are members of the ICC to officially resign from this rogue institution immediately,” he said, according to The Independent and Gulf News. The US president said Washington would “never allow US service members or anyone else to be investigated or given show trials by an anti-American tribunal with no jurisdiction over us”. The United States is not an ICC member and has never ratified the Rome Statute that created the court; Washington has sanctioned court officials since February 2025, after the ICC issued arrest warrants in November 2024 against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and then defence minister Yoav Gallant over alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza. Secretary of State Marco Rubio vowed in July 2026 to “dismantle the ICC, brick by brick”, and The Independent reports that fresh sanctions against the court could be finalised shortly after the General Assembly.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a video posted on X on Tuesday, September 22, 2026, that he will use his address to the United Nations (UN) General Assembly, scheduled for Thursday, September 24, to defend the country’s soldiers and to “tell the truth” about New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, whom he accused of supporting Hamas and of inciting riots against the city’s Jews, according to The Jerusalem Post and The Times of India. “Shame on you, Mr. Mamdani,” Netanyahu said. “Shame on you for supporting the Hamas terrorist monsters who butchered our people.” The statement answers a CNN interview aired on Monday, September 21, in which Mamdani again called Netanyahu “a war criminal and an architect of a horrific genocide of the Palestinian people” and said the arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC) against the prime minister should be honored.

International Criminal Court (ICC) deputy prosecutor Nazhat Shameem Khan, who has been running the office since chief prosecutor Karim Khan was removed amid sexual misconduct allegations, said the court has taken no steps to withdraw the arrest warrants or the warrant applications against Israeli officials, despite US sanctions and pressure. “The case is still proceeding,” she told CNN in an interview aired on 18 September 2026. “We have taken no steps to try and withdraw any of those arrest warrant applications or the arrest warrants themselves, and the team continues to investigate in that situation.” The ICC issued the warrants in November 2024 for Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his then defence minister, Yoav Gallant, over alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in Gaza since October 2023. Washington has since sanctioned most of the court’s leadership, including former chief prosecutor Karim Khan, the two deputy prosecutors and nine judges, among them the court’s president, and secretary of state Marco Rubio pledged in July 2026 to “dismantle the ICC – brick by brick”, as also reported by TASS and Middle East Eye.

Britain’s Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has charged Dr Vincent Brown, formerly Dr Vincent Bajinya, 65, with one offence of conduct ancillary to genocide and six offences of conduct ancillary to murder as a crime against humanity, under section 52 of the International Criminal Court Act 2001 — the first time charges relating to the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda have been brought in the United Kingdom. The service says he is alleged to have directed and incited acts of murder and genocide carried out by others, that he lives in Islington, north London, and that the decision followed a review of an evidence file from the Metropolitan Police’s War Crimes Team; he is due at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday, 22 September. The CPS says proceedings are active and asks that there be no reporting, commentary or sharing of information online that could prejudice them, according to the CPS, the BBC and Reuters.