Trump’s sanctions on ICC prosecutor said to have halted tribunal’s work

"The International Criminal Court’s chief prosecutor has lost access to his email, and his bank accounts have been frozen.

The Hague-based court’s American staffers have been told that if they travel to the US they risk arrest.

Some non-governmental organizations have stopped working with the ICC and the leaders of one won’t even reply to emails from court officials.

Those are just some of the hurdles facing court staff since US President Donald Trump in February slapped sanctions on its chief prosecutor, Karim Khan, according to interviews with current and former ICC officials, international lawyers and human rights advocates...

Trump sanctioned the court after a panel of ICC judges in November issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his then-defense minister, Yoav Gallant. The US and Israel are not members of the court.

Judges found there was reason to believe that the pair may have committed war crimes by restricting humanitarian aid and intentionally targeting civilians in Israel’s campaign against the Hamas terror group in Gaza — charges Israeli officials deny.

Israel says it goes to great lengths to avoid harming civilians as it targets Hamas and other terror groups who have built a warren of fortified tunnels under Gaza and routinely use civilian infrastructure like schools and hospitals as command centers and to carry out attacks...

Order targets chief prosecutor

The February order bans Khan and other non-Americans among the ICC’s 900 staff members from entering the United States. It also threatens any person, institution or company with fines and prison time if they provide Khan with ‘financial, material, or technological support.’...

One reason the court has been hamstrung is that it relies heavily on contractors and non-governmental organizations. Those businesses and groups have curtailed work on behalf of the court because they were concerned about being targeted by US authorities, according to current and former ICC staffers.

Microsoft, for example, cancelled Khan’s email address, forcing the prosecutor to move to Proton Mail, a Swiss email provider, ICC staffers said. His bank accounts in his home country of the United Kingdom have been blocked...

Senior leadership at two other US-based human rights organizations told the AP that their groups have stopped working with the ICC. A senior staffer at one told the AP that employees have even stopped replying to emails from court officials out of fear of triggering a response from the Trump administration.

The cumulative effect of such actions has led ICC staffers to openly wonder whether the organization can survive the Trump administration, according to ICC officials who spoke on condition of anonymity out of fear of reprisal...

Trump, a staunch supporter of Netanyahu, issued his sanctions order shortly after retaking office, accusing the ICC of ‘illegitimate and baseless actions targeting America and our close ally Israel.’ Washington says the court has no jurisdiction over Israel.

Trump’s order said the ICC’s ‘actions against Israel and the United States set a dangerous precedent, directly endangering current and former United States personnel, including active service members of the Armed Forces.’ He said the court’s ‘malign conduct’ threatens ‘the sovereignty of the United States and undermines the critical national security and foreign policy work of the United States Government.’..."