The United States imposed sanctions on Tuesday against International Criminal Court President Tomoko Akane and senior trial lawyer Abdoulaye Seye [1].
These measures signal an escalation in the Trump administration's efforts to weaken the ICC, a body the U.S. views as a threat to national sovereignty.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced the sanctions on Aug. 18, 2026 [1]. The move freezes any assets the two ICC officials may hold within U.S. jurisdictions [2]. The action targets the leadership of the court, which is headquartered in The Hague, Netherlands [3].
Rubio said the U.S. is taking action against the "politicised and unaccountable nature of the ICC" [4]. He said the organization is a "fatally politicized supranational court" [5].
The sanctions are part of a wider campaign by the administration to dismantle the court. U.S. officials said the ICC is an unaccountable entity that interferes with the legal autonomy of sovereign nations [6].
While some reports identify Abdoulaye Seye as a prosecutor, other records list him as a senior trial lawyer [7, 8]. Regardless of the specific title, the sanctions target his financial holdings in the U.S. [2].
This is not the first time the U.S. has clashed with the court. The administration continues to argue that the ICC lacks the legitimacy to investigate U.S. citizens or personnel, a position that has historically strained relations between Washington and the international legal community [6].
“"The ICC is a fatally politicized supranational court."”
By targeting the president and a senior lawyer of the ICC, the U.S. is shifting from general diplomatic opposition to direct financial warfare against the court's leadership. This strategy aims to delegitimize the ICC's authority and discourage international judges and lawyers from pursuing cases that could implicate U.S. officials or allies.
