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US puts sanctions on the International Criminal Court itself. Kenya says the court needs reform, not sanctions.
The United States has imposed sanctions on the International Criminal Court (ICC) as an institution. Until now it had targeted individual judges and prosecutors.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced the measures on Friday 9 October. He said the US would "ban transactions with this rogue court". Kenya responded the next day. "What it needs is urgent reform. Not sanctions," Foreign Affairs Principal Secretary Korir Sing'Oei said.
What the sanctions do
They ban financial dealings with the court and can punish companies that provide it with services.
They freeze any assets the court holds in the United States.
American companies have six months to wind up existing business with the court, and there are some other exemptions.
The court has been preparing for this for more than a year, including by moving away from American software, law professor William Schabas told Al Jazeera.
Why Washington is doing it
The US says the court has gone beyond its powers by pursuing people from countries that are not members. It objects to the arrest warrants issued in 2024 for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former defence minister Yoav Gallant over the war in Gaza, and to an earlier investigation into the conduct of US soldiers in Afghanistan. Neither the US nor Israel is a member of the court.
Mr Rubio said the court must end its "threats" or the US would "end the ICC".
How others reacted
The ICC called the move an attempt to "obstruct the course of justice" and asked its 125 member states to make sure it can keep working.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres said he was "deeply alarmed".
The foreign ministers of the United Kingdom, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the Netherlands said they strongly disagreed and urged the US to think again.
Mr Netanyahu thanked President Donald Trump.
The announcement came hours after the Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to Navi Pillay, the South African judge who once sat on the ICC.
Where Kenya stands
Dr Sing'Oei said the ICC deserves serious criticism for falling short of the job it was set up to do and for being selective in the cases it takes on. But he said the answer is to fix the court. Kenya will keep working with other member states on reforms, he said.
Kenya joined the court in 2005. Its own history with The Hague is well known in this country. The ICC opened an investigation in 2010 into the violence that followed the 2007 election, in which Kibra was one of the worst-hit areas. Charges against Uhuru Kenyatta were withdrawn in December 2014. The case against William Ruto and Joshua arap Sang was ended in April 2016.
What it means for you
Nothing changes for ordinary Kenyans today. The sanctions are aimed at the court, its staff and the companies that serve it.
The court's open cases, including those on Sudan, Ukraine and Gaza, depend on banks, software and travel that the sanctions are designed to cut off. Whether it can keep working is the question to watch over the six-month wind-down.
Kenya has criticised both the court and the sanctions. That middle position will be tested if the US presses members to leave.
Sources: Al Jazeera (the sanctions, US reasons, reactions); (Kenya's statement).
That was a Kibra News Network report, read by an A I voice.
The United States has imposed sanctions on the International Criminal Court (ICC) as an institution. Until now it had targeted individual judges and prosecutors.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced the measures on Friday 9 October. He said the US would “ban transactions with this rogue court”. Kenya responded the next day. “What it needs is urgent reform. Not sanctions,” Foreign Affairs Principal Secretary Korir Sing’Oei said.
What the sanctions do
They ban financial dealings with the court and can punish companies that provide it with services.
They freeze any assets the court holds in the United States.
American companies have six months to wind up existing business with the court, and there are some other exemptions.
The court has been preparing for this for more than a year, including by moving away from American software, law professor William Schabas told Al Jazeera.
Why Washington is doing it
The US says the court has gone beyond its powers by pursuing people from countries that are not members. It objects to the arrest warrants issued in 2024 for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former defence minister Yoav Gallant over the war in Gaza, and to an earlier investigation into the conduct of US soldiers in Afghanistan. Neither the US nor Israel is a member of the court.
Mr Rubio said the court must end its “threats” or the US would “end the ICC”.
How others reacted
The ICC called the move an attempt to “obstruct the course of justice” and asked its 125 member states to make sure it can keep working.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres said he was “deeply alarmed”.
The foreign ministers of the United Kingdom, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the Netherlands said they strongly disagreed and urged the US to think again.
Mr Netanyahu thanked President Donald Trump.
The announcement came hours after the Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to Navi Pillay, the South African judge who once sat on the ICC.
Where Kenya stands
Dr Sing’Oei said the ICC deserves serious criticism for falling short of the job it was set up to do and for being selective in the cases it takes on. But he said the answer is to fix the court. Kenya will keep working with other member states on reforms, he said.
Kenya joined the court in 2005. Its own history with The Hague is well known in this country. The ICC opened an investigation in 2010 into the violence that followed the 2007 election, in which Kibra was one of the worst-hit areas. Charges against Uhuru Kenyatta were withdrawn in December 2014. The case against William Ruto and Joshua arap Sang was ended in April 2016.
What it means for you
Nothing changes for ordinary Kenyans today. The sanctions are aimed at the court, its staff and the companies that serve it.
The court’s open cases, including those on Sudan, Ukraine and Gaza, depend on banks, software and travel that the sanctions are designed to cut off. Whether it can keep working is the question to watch over the six-month wind-down.
Kenya has criticised both the court and the sanctions. That middle position will be tested if the US presses members to leave.
Sources: Al Jazeera (the sanctions, US reasons, reactions); Kenyans.co.ke (Kenya’s statement).
KNN Newsroom is the staff byline for stories written, rewritten and edited at the Kibra News Network desk. Where a story credits an outside outlet, the original source is linked at the foot of the piece.
