The US launched a campaign to ‘disintegrate’ the International Criminal Court

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on July 13 accused the International Criminal Court (ICC) of “waging a war against America, not with missiles or bombs, but with the power of so-called international law”.

“We will use every tool the government has at its disposal, along with allies willing to cooperate, to disintegrate the ICC step by step,” he wrote in a comment posted on Wall Street Journal.

The US State Department said the campaign led by this agency will mobilize the entire government apparatus to “systematically paralyze the ability of the ICC to operate”, prevent this court from prosecuting US soldiers and officials or “threatening US sovereignty”.

According to a US State Department official, Washington will pressure ICC member states to withdraw from the court and cut off all financial support, forcing the agency to dissolve. The US also calls on countries that are not yet members of the ICC to use their diplomatic network to isolate the ICC, an organization headquartered in The Hague.

The official added that the US will consider applying many measures, including entry bans, visa revocations and expanding sanctions against ICC judges. “Countries that continue to rely on US aid but do not reject the ICC’s fake authority will face closer scrutiny,” this person said.

The US State Department also calls on countries that cooperate with US law enforcement or military forces to reject the jurisdiction that the ICC claims over US officials and soldiers.

Mr. Rubio said that the US has never accepted the jurisdiction of the ICC, emphasizing that since the Rome Statute was passed, every US president has held the view that this court has no jurisdiction over American citizens.

Secretary of State Rubio’s statement immediately faced criticism from international law experts. Mr. Kenneth Roth, former executive director of Human Rights Watch (HRW), worries that if the ICC is paralyzed, future war crimes may not be prosecuted.

He noted that the ICC only has the authority to investigate issues occurring on the territory of countries participating in the Rome Statute, while the US has not ratified the treaty establishing this court and the ICC has never opened an investigation into acts occurring on US territory.

ICC was founded in 2002 and is headquartered in the Netherlands, currently has 125 members. This is a permanent court to prosecute individuals who commit crimes of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes. The United States and some countries such as Russia, China, and Israel are not party to the Rome Statute, the treaty that established the ICC.

The campaign launched by the US State Department marks a significant escalation in President Trump’s administration’s efforts to isolate the ICC. During Mr. Trump’s first term, Washington opposed the ICC’s investigation of war crimes allegations committed by US soldiers in Afghanistan.

Since 2025, the Trump administration has imposed sanctions, including a ban on entry to the US and freezing assets in the country, on at least 11 ICC officials, including the chief prosecutor. The move is in response to the ICC investigation targeting Israel, a key ally of the US. In 2024, the ICC issued an arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for alleged war crimes.