{"id":45604,"date":"2025-12-13T13:01:41","date_gmt":"2025-12-13T21:01:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/?p=45604"},"modified":"2025-12-13T13:01:41","modified_gmt":"2025-12-13T21:01:41","slug":"icc-judges-wiped-out-economically-and-socially-by-us-sanctions-but-remain-resolute","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2025\/12\/13\/icc-judges-wiped-out-economically-and-socially-by-us-sanctions-but-remain-resolute\/","title":{"rendered":"ICC Judges \u2018Wiped Out Economically and Socially\u2019 by US Sanctions\u2014But Remain Resolute"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"A<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Nine of the International Criminal Court\u2019s 18 judges\u2014seen here in a March 8, 2024 photo\u2014are under US sanctions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Photo by the International Criminal Court)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn my country, I prosecuted terrorists and drug lords,\u201d said Judge Luz Ib\u00e1\u00f1ez Carranza of Peru. \u201cI will continue my work.\u201d<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Brett Wilkins<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dec 12, 2025 (CommonDreams.org)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

International Criminal Court<\/a> judges remain steadfast in their pursuit of justice\u2014including for victims of Israel\u2019s genocidal war on Gaza\u2014even as they suffer from devastating US sanctions<\/a>, some of the affected jurists said in recent interviews.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nine ICC<\/a> officials are under sanctions imposed<\/a> in two waves<\/a> earlier this year by the Trump administration<\/a> following the Hague-based tribunal\u2019s issuance of arrest warrants<\/a> for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu<\/a> and former Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant<\/a> for alleged crimes against humanity and war crimes<\/a> in Gaza<\/a>, including murder and forced starvation<\/a>. The tribunal also issued warrants for the arrest of three Hamas<\/a> officials, all of whom have been killed by Israel during the course of the war.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

RECOMMENDED…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"New<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

US Threatens ICC With More Sanctions to Prevent Future Prosecution of Trump: Report<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"ICE<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u2018Monday Afternoon Massacre\u2019: Trump Fires 8 Immigration Judges in NYC<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The sanctioned jurists are: Chief Prosecutor Karim Khan (United Kingdom<\/a>), Deputy Prosecutor Nazhat Shameem Khan (Fiji), Deputy Prosecutor Mame Mandiaye Niang (Senegal), Judge Solomy Balungi Bossa (Uganda<\/a>), Judge Luz del Carmen Ib\u00e1\u00f1ez Carranza (Peru<\/a>), Judge Reine Adelaide Sophie Alapini-Gansou (Benin), Judge Beti Hohler (Slovenia), Judge Nicolas Yann Guillou (France<\/a>), and Judge Kimberly Prost (Canada).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The sanctions followed a February executive order<\/a> from US President Donald Trump<\/a> sanctioning Khan and accusing the ICC of \u201cbaseless actions targeting America and our close ally Israel.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The sanctions\u2014which experts have called<\/a> an act of criminal obstruction\u2014prevent the targeted ICC officials and their relatives from entering the United States<\/a>; cut off their access to financial services including banking and credit cards; and prohibit the use of online services like email, shopping, and booking sites.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fearing steep fines and other punitive measures including possible imprisonment for running afoul of US sanctions by providing \u201cfinancial, material, or technological support\u201d to targeted individuals, businesses and other entities strictly blacklist sanctioned people\u2014who are typically terrorists, organized crime leaders, and political or military leaders accused of serious human rights<\/a> crimes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYour whole world is restricted,\u201d Prost\u2014who was part of an ICC appellate chamber\u2019s unanimous 2020 decision<\/a> to investigate alleged US war crimes and crimes against humanity in Afghanistan\u2014told<\/a> the Associated Press<\/em> on Thursday. \u201cI\u2019ve worked all my life in criminal justice, and now I\u2019m on a list with those implicated in terrorism and organized crime.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ib\u00e1\u00f1ez Carranza said the US sanctions are not deterring her, telling the AP<\/em>: \u201cIn my country, I prosecuted terrorists and drug lords. I will continue my work.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Guillou told<\/a> Le Monde<\/em> last week that the sanctions mean he is banned from almost all digital services\u2014including Amazon and PayPal\u2014in a world dominated by US tech giants. This has led to some absurd scenarios, including having a hotel reservation he booked via Expedia in his own country canceled.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTo be under sanctions is like being transported back to the 1990s,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Trump administration\u2019s objective, said Guillou, is \u201cintimidation… permanent fear, and powerlessness.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEuropean citizens under US sanctions will be wiped out economically and socially within the [European Union<\/a>],\u201d he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Guillou remains defiant in the face of sweeping hardship caused by the sanctions, contending that he is part of a larger struggle for justice as, \u201cempires are hitting back\u201d in response to \u201cthree decades of progress in multilateralism.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The US\u2014which, like Israel, is not party to the Rome Statute<\/a> that governs the ICC\u2014has been at odds with the court for decades. In 2002, Congress passed, and then-President George W. Bush<\/a> signed, the American Service Members\u2019 Protection Act<\/a>\u2014also known as the Hague Invasion Act\u2014which authorizes the president to use \u201call means necessary and appropriate\u201d including military intervention to secure the release of American or allied personnel held by or on behalf of the ICC.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During his first term, Trump sanctioned<\/a> then-ICC Chief Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda and Prosecution Jurisdiction Division Director Phakiso Mochochoko over the Afghan war<\/a> crimes probe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The nine jurists sanctioned this year by the US are seeking relief and are calling on European governments to invoke the EU\u2019s so-called \u201cBlocking Statute<\/a>,\u201d which is meant to shield officials of the 27-nation bloc from the extraterritorial application of third country laws.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cStates parties [to the Rome Statute] face a choice: Continue to capitulate to the bullying of the US, or meet the challenge posed by the sanctions, past and future, and respond appropriately,\u201d Jens Iverson, an assistant professor of international law<\/a> at Leiden University in the Netherlands, wrote<\/a> last month for OpinioJuris<\/em>. \u201cWhich choice they make will reveal the actual values of the states who as a matter of law are pledged to combat atrocity and impunity.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ib\u00e1\u00f1ez Carranza\u00a0told<\/a>\u00a0Middle East Eye<\/em>\u00a0in a recent interview: \u201cWhat we are asking are practical measures. What we are asking is action. We need the support of the entire world. But we are in Europe now, and Europe is a powerful structure. The European Union is a powerful structure. They should react as such. They cannot be subordinated to the American policies.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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International Criminal Court (ICC) judge Luz del Carmen Ibanez Carranza has called on the international community to stand with ICC judges following US-imposed sanctions over the court\u2019s arrest warrants for Israeli officials pic.twitter.com\/otJfwHgzdw<\/a><\/p>— Middle East Eye (@MiddleEastEye) December 6, 2025<\/a><\/blockquote>