President Donald J. Trump on Monday signed the “Initial Rescissions Of Harmful Executive Orders And Actions Executive Order,” among them former President Joe Biden’s Executive Order 14022 of April 1, 2021, titled, “Termination of Emergency with Respect to the International Criminal Court.”
The 2021 executive order read, “I, Joseph R. Biden Jr., President of the United States of America, find that, although the United States continues to object to the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) assertions of jurisdiction over personnel of such non-States Parties as the United States and its allies absent their consent or referral by the United Nations Security Council, and will vigorously protect current and former United States personnel from any attempts to exercise such jurisdiction – the threat and imposition of financial sanctions against the Court, its personnel, and those who assist it are not an effective or appropriate strategy for addressing the United States’ concerns with the ICC.”
Biden asserted that “Accordingly, I hereby terminate the national emergency declared in Executive Order 13928 of June 11, 2020 (Blocking Property of Certain Persons Associated with the International Criminal Court), and revoke that order.”
On September 2, 2020, the United States government imposed sanctions on ICC chief prosecutor Fatou Bensouda and senior prosecution official Phakiso Mochochoko. Additionally, Secretary of State Michael Pompeo announced restrictions on visas to certain unnamed individuals involved in the ICC’s efforts to investigate US personnel.
These sanctions were enacted under a broad executive order issued on June 11, 2020. The order declared a national emergency and authorized measures such as asset freezes and family entry bans targeting ICC officials engaged in specific activities. Previously, the US had threatened actions to block ICC investigations in Afghanistan and Israel. In an earlier move, the US revoked the prosecutor’s visa in 2019.
Needless to say, that 2020 executive order had been issued by the 45th President of the United States, Donald Trump. Four years later, the 47th President, Donald Trump, is reversing the order.
Last Thursday, the House voted to approve sanctions against the International Criminal Court in response to its arrest warrants for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former defense minister Yoav Gallant regarding Israel’s actions in Gaza.
The “Illegitimate Court Counteraction Act” passed by a vote of 243 to 140. Forty-five Democrats joined 198 Republicans in supporting the bill, while no Republican opposed it.
The legislation imposes sanctions on any foreign individual who investigates, arrests, detains, or prosecutes US citizens or citizens of allied nations that are not ICC member states, including Israel. The House vote, one of the first since the new Congress convened last week, highlighted strong support among all Republicans and some Democrats for the Israeli government.
The future designation of ICC officials under U.S. sanctions will have two significant and immediate effects:
BLOCKING OF PROPERTY AND TRANSACTIONS
- Any property owned by sanctioned ICC officials (such as Chief Prosecutor Karim Khan), or by any entity in which they hold a 50% or greater stake in the US becomes “blocked.” While the property itself is not seized, they are prohibited from using, selling, or otherwise exercising any rights over it.
- US persons or entities worldwide are barred from conducting transactions with or providing services to these ICC officials unless explicitly authorized by a US government license.
- Any property belonging to them that comes within US jurisdiction would also be “blocked.”
BROADER GLOBAL IMPLICATIONS
- The dominance of the US dollar in international trade extends the impact of these sanctions. US dollar-denominated transactions, even between two non-US parties, often involve a US-regulated bank to process the payments. Any transaction involving such banks would be automatically blocked.
- Major global financial institutions, wary of losing access to US banks and the dollar-based financial system, frequently avoid dealings with individuals on the US Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) List. This avoidance extends beyond transactions involving US dollars, persons, or jurisdiction, significantly limiting the sanctioned individuals’ ability to conduct global economic activities.
- The executive order’s vague language around “material assistance or support” to sanctioned individuals creates additional risks for financial institutions and others, leading to heightened caution and further isolating those designated.
These measures effectively extend the sanctions’ reach far beyond physical assets within the US, potentially cutting off designated individuals from much of the global financial system.
