Unites States President Donald Trump issued an executive order[1] on June 11, imposing sanctions on members of the International Criminal Court (ICC). The sanctions were issued in response to the ICC asserting jurisdiction over alleged war crimes by U.S. military personnel in Afghanistan. The U.S. is not a party to the Rome Statute, does not accept ICC jurisdiction over its personnel, and passed the American Service-Members’ Protection Act in 2002, which rejected ICC jurisdiction.
“The United States remains committed to accountability and to the peaceful cultivation of international order, but the ICC and parties to the Rome Statute must respect the decisions of the United States and other countries not to subject their personnel to the ICC’s jurisdiction, consistent with their respective sovereign prerogatives,” the order states. “The United States seeks to impose tangible and significant consequences on those responsible for the ICC’s transgressions, which may include the suspension of entry into the United States of ICC officials, employees, and agents, as well as their immediate family members.”
Germany has asked the European Union to invoke its cybersanctions regime[2] against Russian hackers found responsible for an attack on the German Parliamentary offices, resulting in the theft of personal data on German officials. The EU cybersanctions regime targets persons or entities “involved in cyber-attacks which cause a significant impact, and constitute an external threat to the EU or its member states” and was most recently extended by the European Council until May 18, 2021.[3] The invocation follows an international arrest warrant[4] issued for Russian national Dmitriy Sergeyevich Badin, who was indicted for hacking the German parliament in 2015.