Japan has criticised the United States for imposing sanctions on International Criminal Court President Tomoko Akane and a senior court lawyer, describing the action as “very unfortunate”.
Japan’s Foreign Ministry expressed the concern on Wednesday in a rare rebuke of its key US ally.
The criticism followed US Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s announcement of sanctions against Akane, a Japanese judge, and Abdoulaye Seye, a Senegalese lawyer on the ICC prosecution team that sought an arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
“Japan has consistently supported the ICC, which is a permanent international criminal court, in its efforts to prosecute and punish the most serious crimes of concern to the international community,” the ministry said.
The latest development has deepened differences between Washington and Tokyo over the Hague-based court, which was established in 2002 to prosecute war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity. Japan joined the ICC in 2007.
Japan, which depends heavily on the US for its defence, rarely criticises Washington publicly.
The sanctions have also drawn opposition from some European allies. Dutch Foreign Minister Tom Berendsen, whose country hosts the ICC, said the Netherlands opposed the latest measures and invited Akane to discuss its continued support for the court.
Akane had warned in December that US sanctions could rapidly undermine the ICC’s operations across its cases and potentially threaten its existence.
The Trump administration sanctioned several ICC prosecutors and judges last year, citing the court’s arrest warrants for Netanyahu and former Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant, as well as its earlier investigation into US troops in Afghanistan.
The sanctions freeze any US assets held by the affected officials and largely cut them off from the US financial system, which is closely connected to international banking networks.
