The US Treasury added the International Criminal Court (ICC) as an institution to its sanctions list on Friday, October 9, 2026. The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) placed the Hague-based tribunal on its Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) list. The listing blocks ICC property under US jurisdiction and bars US persons from transacting with the court. Earlier US measures named individual judges, prosecutors and staff.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced the step in a video address posted to social media on Friday. He said: "Either the ICC will end its threats, or we will end the ICC." The Norwegian Nobel Committee had named former ICC judge Navanethem Pillay the 2026 Peace Prize winner hours earlier. Rubio's statement did not mention Pillay or the award. He said Washington had held off on the designation for more than a year.
Court, Dutch government and EU respond
US companies and individuals have six months to wind down business with the court, the Associated Press (AP) and AFP report. Reuters reports that the Treasury issued four general licenses permitting some transactions related to the court's telecommunications, software, pension payments and detainees.
The ICC called the sanctions "an assault on the rule of law and on the very foundations of the international legal order." ICC President Tomoko Akane, herself sanctioned since August, said the court "will continue to fully discharge its mandate." The US had previously sanctioned individual ICC officials, including the prosecutor and several judges.
Dutch Foreign Minister Tom Berendsen called the move "a deeply regrettable step. We stand firm in defence of the court." The Netherlands has asked Brussels to prepare the EU Blocking Statute (Council Regulation 2271/96), which bars EU persons from complying with listed foreign sanctions. The European Commission has not yet acted. Crisis.Zone reported in July that Rubio had vowed to dismantle the court "brick by brick."
Observers are reading: How the court's banking, software and legal exposure maps against the six-month wind-down and the EU's blocking options.
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Unconfirmed effects on the court's operations
No account closures or service cut-offs have been confirmed in the reporting reviewed so far. The European Commission has announced no decision on the Blocking Statute. The ICC says its work continues. Crisis.Zone will update as verified information becomes available.
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