ICC says investigations advance despite US sanctions

International Criminal Court deputy prosecutor Nazhat Shameem Khan says the court is making “significant progress” on its investigations despite new U.S. sanctions that are beginning to affect staff.

Sanctions and Official Response

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced sanctions this month, labeling the court a “rogue court” and warning, “Either the ICC will end its threats, or we will end the ICC.”

The sanctions were announced on 9 October and are set to take effect six months later, giving the institution a grace period to address Washington’s concerns.

Ongoing Investigations

Khan reported that the Gaza war inquiry and other cases have advanced since arrest warrants were issued in November 2024 for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former defence minister Yoav Galant.

Additional applications from the prosecutor remain confidential by court order, limiting public detail.

Staff have encountered banking difficulties, even though the sanctions are not yet active. Banks are “over-complying” to limit risk while the exact scope of the measures remains uncertain.

“These are sanctions imposed on the institutions and, in principle, our individual members should not be impacted directly,” Khan told the Guardian. “But again, what I am hearing from members of our staff is that some of them are experiencing difficulties in banking.”

Institutional Adaptations

The court has shifted its software from Microsoft to European alternatives and is negotiating with service providers over banking and health-insurance arrangements.

Khan emphasized that all investigations continue and no decision has been made to curtail capability or output because of the sanctions.

The sanctions target the entire ICC, but the United States first singled out 13 staff members in February 2025, including Khan herself.

Khan described the personal inconvenience of lacking a credit card, noting that “life without a credit card is inconvenient,” yet she placed that hardship in perspective after visits to refugee camps and sites of mass atrocities.

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Additional Challenges

Separate from the U.S. measures, formal investigations began in late November 2024 into alleged sexual harassment by former chief prosecutor Karim Khan. He denied the accusations and was removed from office in July after a member-state vote.

No further charges related to the Gaza conflict have been announced since late 2024. The court’s ruling earlier this year requires that all charges and warrant applications remain secret until judges decide they can be disclosed.

“Even if we reach a stage of the investigations where it might be imminent, we may not discuss it publicly,” she said. “And so while there might be an appearance that nothing is happening, I can assure you that there’s significant progress in that particular situation as well as others.”

U.S. Claims and Court Priorities

Rubio gave the ICC a six-month window to negotiate a solution, though it is unclear what would satisfy the administration that has long opposed the court.

Rubio also claimed, without evidence, that “globalist ‘experts’ an ocean away” wanted the ICC to prosecute U.S. citizens. Khan responded that the court has not brought any Americans before it.

She added that if the reference concerns Afghanistan, the priority there is investigating offences against women, girls, and vulnerable groups by the Taliban and Islamic State Khorasan.

This month the pre-trial chamber unsealed four arrest warrants against Taliban members for gender-based persecution.

International Support

The court registrar for the ICC is in negotiation with the EU over blocking the US sanctions or protecting the court in other ways.

In recognition of its work, the European Parliament awarded the court and its officials the Sakharov prize for freedom of thought.

Khan said the award sends “a very important message that the staff at the court need to hear,” alongside pledges from other nations to keep funding the institution.

Khan said, “I think that the fact that there is so much attention on us is a reflection of how relevant we are,” and noted that the court provides an avenue of justice for victims who have nowhere else to go, who really want to cut past politics and want their voices to be heard.