Sanctions against the ICC

The Society for Threatened Peoples is shocked by the US President’s sanctions order and his accusations against the International Criminal Court (ICC). “The decree opens the floodgates to impunity. It exposes the United States’ claim to be committed to justice worldwide as pure rhetoric – and it is completely unworthy of a world power,” explained Jasna Causevic, STP expert on genocide prevention and the Responsibility to Protect, in Göttingen today. “Now, the German Federal Government should respond immediately – together with its international allies. It should also strengthen international criminal justice and international criminal law, supporting their further development.” The rise of authoritarian regimes is a threat to freedom and democracy all over the world.

Recently, the STP had called on Germany and other states to adopt a convention against crimes against humanity and to strengthen the ICC Statute with regard to the crime of aggression. Further, the new federal government should make this one of its priorities with regard to foreign policy. “The democratic world cannot simply tolerate this attack on the ICC’s right to exist. If this important, independent institution is lost, countless crimes will go unpunished.  This will encourage further perpetrators, leading to even more innocent victims and traumatization without hope of improvement,” Causevic added.

The ICC has been prosecuting especially serious crimes such as war crimes since 2002, with the aim of eliminating impunity for these crimes. Victims are supposed to receive justice, as in the case of the indictment against those responsible for the genocide against the Rohingya in Myanmar (Min Aung Hlaing, 2019) – or in the current case against the head of state of Afghanistan (Hibatullah Achundsada, 2025) for the oppression and persecution of women in Afghanistan. With his sanctions, Trump is trampling on the groundbreaking work of the court, which is often the final authority regarding justice for victims. Neither the United States nor Israel are treaty states.