U.S. President Donald Trump has authorized economic and travel sanctions against International Criminal Court (ICC) Prosecutor Karim Khan, marking the first time such measures have been imposed on an individual associated with the war crimes tribunal.
The sanctions, announced on Friday, target Khan over the ICC’s investigations involving U.S. citizens or allies, according to two sources briefed on the matter.
Karim Khan, a British national, was named in an annex to an executive order signed by Trump on Thursday. Although the annex has not yet been made public, a senior ICC official and another source confirmed the details to Reuters, speaking on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the matter.
The sanctions include freezing any U.S. assets held by Khan and barring him and his family from entering the United States. The executive order also directs U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, in consultation with Secretary of State Marco Rubio, to submit a report within 60 days identifying additional individuals who should face similar sanctions.
The ICC, based in The Hague, strongly condemned the sanctions, vowing to stand by its staff and continue its mission to deliver justice to victims of atrocities worldwide. “The ICC remains committed to providing justice and hope to millions of innocent victims of atrocities across the globe,” the court said in a statement. Court officials held an emergency meeting on Friday to assess the impact of the sanctions on their operations.
Established in 2002, the ICC has the authority to prosecute genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes in member states or in cases referred by the U.N. Security Council. The court is currently investigating several high-profile cases, including those involving U.S. allies such as Israel.
The U.S. sanctions have drawn widespread criticism from the international community. A group of 79 countries, representing about two-thirds of the ICC’s member states, issued a joint statement warning that the sanctions could “increase the risk of impunity for the most serious crimes and threaten to erode the international rule of law.” They also expressed concern that the measures could force the ICC to close its field offices, severely undermining ongoing investigations.
Under an agreement between the United Nations and the U.S., Khan is entitled to travel to New York to brief the U.N. Security Council on cases referred to the ICC, such as those in Libya and Sudan’s Darfur region. Deputy U.N. spokesperson Farhan Haq emphasized the importance of upholding these obligations, stating, “We trust that any restrictions taken against individuals would be implemented consistently with the host country’s obligations under the U.N. Headquarters agreement.”
Khan was in New York last week to brief the Security Council on the situation in Sudan. Haq reiterated the critical role of the ICC in combating impunity, saying, “International criminal law is an essential element to fighting impunity, which is unfortunately widespread. The ICC must be allowed to work in full independence.”
The timing of Trump’s executive order coincided with a visit to Washington by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who faces an ICC arrest warrant over alleged war crimes in Gaza. Netanyahu praised Trump’s decision, calling the ICC a “scandalous” organization that “threatens the right of all democracies to defend themselves.”
The sanctions against Khan echo similar actions taken by the Trump administration during his first term, reflecting the U.S. government’s longstanding opposition to the ICC’s jurisdiction over American citizens and allies. As the international community reacts to the latest developments, concerns are growing over the potential erosion of global efforts to hold perpetrators of war crimes accountable.
