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Tag: U.S. sanctions

  • ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan First To Be Hit By US Sanctions

    ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan First To Be Hit By US Sanctions

    International Criminal Court Prosecutor Karim Khan is the first person to be hit with economic and travel sanctions authorized by US President Donald Trump that target the war crimes tribunal over investigations of US citizens or US allies, two sources briefed on the matter told Reuters on Friday.

    Khan, who is British, was named on Friday in an annex – not yet made public – to an executive order signed by Trump a day earlier, a senior ICC official and another source, both briefed by US government officials, told Reuters. They spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss a confidential matter.

    The sanctions include freezing of US assets of those designated and barring them and their families from visiting the United States.

    Waiting the 60 days

    The order directed Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, in consultation with Secretary of State Marco Rubio, to submit a report within 60 days naming people who should be sanctioned.

    The ICC on Friday condemned the sanctions, pledging to stand by its staff and “continue providing justice and hope to millions of innocent victims of atrocities across the world, in all situations before it.” Court officials met in The Hague on Friday to discuss the implications of the sanctions.

    THE INTERNATIONAL Criminal Court in The Hague. (credit: PIROSCHKA VAN DE WOUW/REUTERS)

    The International Criminal Court, which opened in 2002, has international jurisdiction to prosecute genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes in member states or if a situation is referred by the UN Security Council.

    Dozens of countries warned on Friday that the US sanctions could “increase the risk of impunity for the most serious crimes and threaten to erode the international rule of law.”

    “Sanctions would severely undermine all situations currently under investigation as the Court may have to close its field offices,” the 79 countries – who make up about two-thirds of the court’s members – said in a statement.

    UN deal with US

    Under an agreement between the United Nations and Washington, Khan should be able to regularly travel to New York to brief the UN Security Council on cases it had referred to the court in The Hague. The Security Council has referred the situations in Libya and Sudan’s Darfur region to the ICC.

    “We trust that any restrictions taken against individuals would be implemented consistently with the host country’s obligations under the UN Headquarters agreement,” deputy UN spokesperson Farhan Haq said on Friday.

    Khan was most recently in New York last week to brief the Security Council on Sudan.

    “International criminal law is an essential element to fighting impunity, which is unfortunately widespread,” Haq said. “The International Criminal Court is its essential element, and it must be allowed to work in full independence.”

    Trump’s move on Thursday – repeating action he took during his first term – coincided with a visit to Washington by Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who – along with his former defense minister and a leader of Palestinian militant group Hamas – is wanted by the ICC over the war in the Gaza.

    During a visit to the US Congress on Friday, Netanyahu praised Trump’s move, describing the court as a “scandalous” organization “that threatens the right of all democracies to defend themselves.”

    (Reuters)

  • Trump Sanctions South Africa

    Trump Sanctions South Africa

    US President Donald Trump has signed an executive order freezing financial aid to South Africa, after threatening to do so earlier this week.

    Trump said he was bringing in the order because of South Africa’s new land law, which he says is violating people’s rights, and also because of its international court case accusing Israel of genocide.

    It escalates a dispute between the two countries nearly a week after Trump threatened to cut funding without citing evidence, that “South Africa is confiscating land” and “certain classes of people” were being treated “very badly”.

    Trump’s close adviser Elon Musk, who was born in South Africa, also joined in the criticism asking on X why Ramaphosa had “openly racist ownership laws”.

    President Cyril Ramaphosa has not yet commented but previously defended South Africa’s land policy after Trump’s threat on Sunday.

    He said the government had not confiscated any land and the policy was aimed at ensuring equitable public access to land.

    President Ramaphosa’s law was signed last month, and allows land seizures without compensation in certain circumstances.

    Land ownership has long been a contentious issue in South Africa with most private farmland owned by white people, 30 years after the end of the racist system of apartheid.

    There have been continuous calls for the government to address land reform and deal with the past injustices of racial segregation.

    South Africa’s new law allows for expropriation without compensation only in circumstances where it is “just and equitable and in the public interest” to do so.

    This includes if the property is not being used and there is no intention to either develop or make money from it, or when it poses a risk to people.

    The order said the US “cannot support the government of South Africa’s commission of rights violations in its country”, and as long as it “continues these unjust and immoral practices” then the US will not provide aid or assistance.

    The White House said Washington will also formulate a plan to resettle South African farmers and their families as refugees.

    It said US officials will take steps to prioritise humanitarian relief, including admission and resettlement through the United States Refugee Admissions Program for Afrikaners in South Africa, who are mostly white descendants of early Dutch and French settlers.

    The executive order also references South Africa’s role in bringing accusations of genocide against Israel before the International Court of Justice (ICJ).

    The order said: “In addition, South Africa has taken aggressive positions towards the United States and its allies, including accusing Israel, not Hamas, of genocide in the ICJ, and reinvigorating its relations with Iran to develop commercial, military, and nuclear arrangements.”

    On Sunday, Trump wrote on his social media platform Truth Social: “I will be cutting off all future funding to South Africa until a full investigation of this situation has been completed!”

    He later said, in a briefing with journalists, that South Africa’s “leadership is doing some terrible things, horrible things”.

    “So that’s under investigation right now. We’ll make a determination, and until such time as we find out what South Africa is doing – they’re taking away land and confiscating land, and actually they’re doing things that are perhaps far worse than that.”

    But, on Monday, Ramaphosa moved to defuse the row with Trump’s new US administration over the new land law by speaking to Musk on the phone.

    Ramaphosa’s office said, in that call to Musk the president “reiterated South Africa’s constitutionally embedded values of the respect for the rule of law, justice, fairness and equality”.

  • Trump Sanctions International Criminal Court, Calls It ‘Illegitimate’

    Trump Sanctions International Criminal Court, Calls It ‘Illegitimate’

    President Donald Trump has signed an executive order sanctioning the International Criminal Court, accusing it of “illegitimate and baseless actions targeting America and our close ally Israel”.

    The measure places financial and visa restrictions on individuals and their families who assist in ICC investigations of American citizens or allies.

    Trump signed the measure as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was visiting Washington.

    Last November, the ICC issued an arrest warrant for Netanyahu over alleged war crimes in Gaza, which Israel denies. The ICC also issued a warrant for a Hamas commander.

    A White House memo circulated on Thursday accused the Hague-based ICC of creating a “shameful moral equivalency” between Hamas and Israel by issuing the warrants at the same time.

    Trump’s executive order said the ICC’s recent actions “set a dangerous precedent” that endangered Americans by exposing them to “harassment, abuse and possible arrest”.

    “This malign conduct in turn threatens to infringe upon the sovereignty of the United States and undermines the critical national security and foreign policy work of the United States government and our allies, including Israel,” the order said.

    The US is not a member of the ICC and has repeatedly rejected any jurisdiction by the body over American officials or citizens.

    The White House accused the ICC of placing constraints on Israel’s right to self-defence, while ignoring Iran and anti-Israel groups.

    In his first term in office, Trump imposed sanctions on ICC officials who were investigating whether US forces had committed war crimes in Afghanistan. Those sanctions were lifted by President Joe Biden’s administration.

    Last month, the US House of Representatives voted to sanction the ICC, but the bill foundered in the Senate.

    The ICC was founded in 2002 – in the wake of the dissolution of Yugoslavia and the Rwandan genocide – to investigate alleged atrocities.

    Over 120 countries have ratified the Rome Statute – which established the ICC – while another 34 have signed and may ratify in the future.

    Neither the US nor Israel is party to the Rome Statute.

    The ICC is a court of last resort and is meant to intervene only when national authorities cannot or will not prosecute.

    Trump’s executive order said that “both nations [the US and Israel] are thriving democracies with militaries that strictly adhere to the laws of war”.

    During his last weeks in office, President Biden also criticised the ICC’s warrant for Netanyahu, calling the move “outrageous” and saying there was no equivalence between Israel and Hamas.

    Trump’s signing of his latest executive order follows his announcement during a joint press conference with the Israeli prime minister on Tuesday of a plan for the US to “take over” Gaza, resettle its Palestinian population and turn the territory into the “Riviera of the Middle East”.

    After Arab leaders and the UN condemned the idea, the US president restated it on his Truth Social social media platform on Thursday.

    “The Gaza Strip would be turned over to the United States by Israel at the conclusion of fighting,” Trump wrote, referring to the war between Israel and Hamas that is currently under a ceasefire.

    He repeated that the plan would involve resettling Palestinians, and that no American soldiers would be deployed.

    His post did not make clear whether the two million residents of the Palestinian territory would be invited to return, leaving officials scrambling to explain.

    White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said on Wednesday any displacement would be temporary.

    Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Gazans would leave for an “interim” period while reconstruction took place.

    Netanyahu has praised Trump’s “remarkable” plan to re-make Gaza. On Thursday, Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz ordered the military to prepare for the “voluntary departure” of Gaza’s residents.

    He said the plan would include departures via land, sea and air.

    Trump signed the order as Netanyahu continued his visit to Washington, meeting lawmakers from both the Republican and Democratic parties on Capitol Hill.

    The Israeli prime minister also presented a golden pager to Trump.

    The gift was a reference to Israel’s deadly operation against Hezbollah in September last year, using booby-trapped communications devices.

    Dozens of people were killed and thousands injured in the attacks. Lebanese officials said civilians were hit in the explosions.

  • We Can Do It The Easy Way, Or The Hard Way, Trump Tells Putin To End Ukraine War Immediately Or Face Consequences

    We Can Do It The Easy Way, Or The Hard Way, Trump Tells Putin To End Ukraine War Immediately Or Face Consequences

    US President Donald Trump on Wednesday demanded that Russia “settle now” and end the war in Ukraine, warning of high taxes, tariffs and sanctions on Russian exports if a resolution is not soon achieved.

    “I’m not looking to hurt Russia. I love the Russian people, and always had a very good relationship with President Putin – and this despite the Radical Left’s Russia, Russia, Russia HOAX. We must never forget that Russia helped us win the Second World War, losing almost 60,000,000 lives in the process,” Trump said on Truth Social.

    “All of that being said, I’m going to do Russia, whose Economy is failing, and President Putin, a very big FAVOR. Settle now, and STOP this ridiculous War! IT’S ONLY GOING TO GET WORSE. If we don’t make a ‘deal,’ and soon, I have no other choice but to put high levels of Taxes, Tariffs, and Sanctions on anything being sold by Russia to the United States, and various other participating countries. Let’s get this war, which never would have started if I were President, over with! We can do it the easy way, or the hard way – and the easy way is always better. It’s time to ‘MAKE A DEAL.’ NO MORE LIVES SHOULD BE LOST!!!” he added.

    The post was one day after the US president indicated that additional sanctions on Russia are “likely” if Russian President Vladimir Putin does not come to the negotiation table to end the war in Ukraine.

    Trump was asked by reporters at the White House if he would impose further sanctions on Moscow should Putin refuse to engage in peace talks.

    “Sounds likely,” he said, without elaborating.

    Asked if he believed the war should be frozen, he responded: “The war should have never started. If you had a competent president, which you didn’t, the war wouldn’t have happened. The war in Ukraine would have never happened if I were president.”

    He criticized former President Joe Biden, saying Putin “disrespected” his leadership.

    On whether he would keep sending weapons to Ukraine, Trump said his administration would “look into that,” adding, “We’re talking to (Ukrainian President Volodymyr) Zelenskyy. We’re going to be talking with President Putin very soon, and we’ll see what, how it all happens.”

    “One thing I do feel is the European Union should be paying a lot more than they’re paying,” he added.

    Trump vowed to end the war in Ukraine and said he would engage in talks with Putin and Zelenskyy, although he has not provided a timeline or specifics.

    “President Zelenskyy would like to have peace. He’s told me that very strongly. But it takes two to tango,” he told reporters.

    Asked when he would meet Putin, Trump said: “Anytime they want, I’ll meet.”

    “Millions of people are being killed. It’s a vicious situation,” he said, accusing the US of underreporting the death toll.

    “The real killing now is on the war front. It’s a very flat land, and the only thing that stops a bullet is somebody’s body, and you have young soldiers. So, Russia’s lost about 800,000 soldiers now. Ukraine’s lost about 600,000 or 700,000. I think the numbers are lower than they’re giving out,” he added.