The tribunal issued a statement Wednesday in response to State Department-announced sanctions against four of its officials.
The United Nations-backed International Criminal Court (ICC) said that it “strongly rejects” the sanctions imposed on four of its judges by the U.S. government Wednesday, calling for the Trump administration to reverse course.
“These sanctions are a flagrant attack against the independence of an impartial judicial institution which operates under the mandate from 125 States Parties from all regions,” the ICC statement said. “They constitute also an affront against the Court’s States Parties, the rules-based international order and, above all, millions of innocent victims across the world.”
The ICC added that it will stand “firmly behind its personnel and victims of unimaginable atrocities” and will continue to support “its mandate, undeterred, in strict accordance with its legal framework as adopted by the States Parties and without regard to any restriction, pressure or threat.”
The court called for its nation members to “provide firm and consistent support to the Court.”
The response was issued after U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Wednesday announced sanctions against ICC officials Nicolas Yann Guillou of France, Nazhat Shameem Khan of Fiji, Mame Mandiaye Niang of Senegal, and Kimberly Prost of Canada in response to the ICC’s targeting of Israeli leaders and a past decision to investigate U.S. officials.
“United States has been clear and steadfast in our opposition to the ICC’s politicization, abuse of power, disregard for our national sovereignty, and illegitimate judicial overreach,” Rubio said.
He then called on the 125 nations “that still support the ICC, many of whose freedom was purchased at the price of great American sacrifices, to resist the claims of this bankrupt institution.”
ICC judges issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, former Israeli defense chief Yoav Gallant, and Hamas leader Ibrahim al-Masri last November for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity during the Gaza conflict. Netanyahu and Gallant have denied the charges levied by the ICC.
