Europe
France condemns US sanctions on the International Criminal Court and asks Washington to withdraw them
The French foreign ministry says the US sanctions now target the International Criminal Court itself, not only its judges and staff, and asks Washington to lift them.
France has called on the United States to withdraw its sanctions on the International Criminal Court, in a statement published by the French foreign ministry on 12 October. Paris says it condemns “the US institutional sanctions targeting the International Criminal Court”, and that the measure now hits the court as an institution rather than only its officials.
From judges to the institution
The French statement describes a progression. It says several sanctions were adopted under the presidential decree of 6 February 2025, and that until now these targeted judges and staff of the court. It names one of them: French judge Nicolas Guillou. In its words, “it is now the institution itself that is targeted.”
Geopolitiki reported the American decision as US sanctions the International Criminal Court itself; Rubio: “Either the ICC will end its threats, or we will end the ICC”. The French statement does not describe the American justification, and this article does not assess it.
What France says it will do
France asks Washington to lift the measures and says it “reaffirms its unfailing support for the ICC and its staff”. It describes the court’s role as “essential in fighting impunity”. The ministry adds that, together with its European partners and the other states parties to the Rome Statute, it is “actively working” to ensure that the court can keep carrying out its mission “independently and impartially” and deliver justice to the victims of the most serious crimes.
The statement is short and sets out no specific measures, such as a legal instrument to shield the court, a financing step or a date for any action. It is a political position from one of the court’s states parties, published two days after the sanctions were reported, and it is the only French official text on the matter read for this article.
