Although the United States is not included in the 125 Member States of the International Criminal Court, sanctions announced today by Donald Trump against the court could lead to operational paralysis.

The measures include a ban for members of the International Criminal Court staff from traveling to the United States, which would comply with his work. Financial institutions can refuse to cooperate with the court for fear of US retaliation.

The US sanctions They can also affect the technical functions and IT operations of the International Criminal Court, including the gathering of evidence.

There are also fears that, due to US sanctions, victims of crimes for which the International Court of Justice is responsible will hesitate to appear.

“Companies and Organizations are likely to stop their relations with the International Criminal Court because it is very dangerous“, Notes James Patrick Sexton, researcher at the TMC Asser Institute of the University of Amsterdam.

“Basic suppliers like Microsoft can simply retire preventively“, He estimates.

The sanctions have caused an internal judgment in the International Criminal Court, according to Thijs Bouwknegt of the NIOD Institute for the study of war, holocaust and genocide.

THE Prosecutor Karim Khan He has many American citizenship in his team. “They can’t work together“Says Thijs Bouwknegt, who also speaks for information that salaries were paid earlier by fear of the banking difficulties that will arise. “The International Criminal Court is an international organization, so there are many international banking transactions“

The ICC will probably launch a diplomatic campaign to secure support for the institution and international justice, James Patrick Sexton notes.

Technically, the founding status of the ICC allows him to take measures against anyone attacking his staff or obstructing an obstacle by intimidating or exerting unfair influence on a member of the ICC.

From a legal point of view, this means that the International Criminal Court may respond to Trump, but this would not settle the situation, says James Patrick Sexton.

Experts fear that the weakening of the court, investigating war crimes and crimes against humanity, can give a white check to the dictators.

The penalties’They seek to undermine and destroy what the international community has carefully built for decades or even centuries“, Says Agnès Callamard, Secretary General of Amnesty International. “Global rules applied to all and aim at justice for all“

If the sanctions aim at the prosecutor of the ICC, which is likely, this means that investigations in countries such as Afghanistan, Ukraine, Sudan are influenced.

“Victims will be deprived of judicial procedures even in cases that the US does not condemn“, According to Sexton. Sanctions “will undermine all investigations, not just Palestine research,” he explains, adding that sanctions are imposed at an already difficult time for the ICC.

The court is in opposition to Italy, which has been suspected of crimes of the Libyan War wanted by the ICC. The argument of Rome is that the arrest warrant was malicious.

Many countries have also expressed reservations about the arrest of Benjamin Netanyahu, which has also issued an arrest warrant if he visits a Member State of the ICC (Israel is not a member of the ICC), also undermine the prestige of the court.

At this juncture, US sanctions represent a “existential threat to the International Criminal Court,” says Sexton. “It’s a hub’s moment“

Yes. In 2020, Trump’s Foreign Minister Mike Pompeo imposed sanctions on prosecutor Bensuda, then a ICC prosecutor, for investigation into war crimes committed by US troops in Afghanistan.

Taking over the US presidency a year later, Joe Biden canceled the sanctions.

The US has a dynamic intervention in the Netherlands. In 2002, the year of commencement of the operation of the International Criminal Court, the US Congress adopted the “Hague invasion law” that allows the US president to order to use military violence to release any US nationals who may be held by Hague. International Criminal Court.