AFP via Getty ImagesNavi Pillay, the winner of this year’s Nobel Peace Prize, has called US sanctions on the International Criminal Court (ICC) “unheard of” and “unacceptable”.
The South African former ICC judge was awarded the prize on Friday “for her efforts to promote peace and international law”, which paved the way for a “more comprehensive global legal order”, the Nobel committee said.
US President Donald Trump expressed his disatisfaction with the pick and hours later the US unveiled sweeping sanctions in a significant acceleration of its attempt to “dismantle” what it described as a “rogue” institution.
The ICC said the measures were an assault on the rule of law and the foundations of the international legal order.
“Most importantly, sanctions have been announced by one country against the judges, just for the judicial orders they issue. This is unheard of, unacceptable.”
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio earlier said the sanctions – which include a ban on US entities making transactions with the ICC – were intended to “defend US sovereignty” and accused the court of seeking to prosecute Americans.
The US has already sanctioned 17 ICC judges and officials, but this move sanctions the court itself as an institution and is intended to inhibit its ability to operate financially.
However, the US has provided a six-month grace period before some of these latest sanctions kick in, meaning member states can keep paying for its operations – a move Washington says is to allow countries time to negotiate a “solution to address” US concerns.
The Trump administration claims that the ICC is run by what it calls globalists who threaten American sovereignty.
It is furious over a past investigation into actions of US soldiers in Afghanistan the court has since closed and by its arrest warrants for Israeli officials including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The new sanctions, however, do not say that those warrants must be withdrawn before the measures can be lifted.
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres called the US decision “a serious blow to our collective pursuit of international criminal justice, of which the ICC is a key pillar”.
The UK joined Canada, Denmark, Germany, France, Italy, Japan and the Netherlands in saying they “regret and strongly disagree with” the sanctions.
Pillay, 85, also served as UN rights chief, taking part in high-profile work considering allegations of human rights violations, including in Rwanda, Myanmar and Gaza.
Her early work included defending anti-apartheid activists in South Africa, and on Friday she became the country’s fifth Peace Prize winner – following in the footsteps of Nelson Mandela and Archbishop Desmond Tutu.
“If you clap a little bit more I may share this prize with Trump,” she joked after receiving the prize, a reference to last year’s winner, Venezuelan opposition figure MarÃa Corina Machado, deciding to gift her prize to the US president.
Trump called the announcement of Pillay as 2026’s winner “disgraceful and embarassing”, and an “indelible stain on the country of Norway”.
He has long indicated he thought he should have been awarded the prestigious prize, and was nominated by several allies for it last year.
